Just want you to know
by Newsflash-I don't care
Summary: SasuSaku/ Sasuke looks back into his past and thinks about his actions. He decides to go back home and make things right. Flashbacks, lyrics. "Just want you yo know" belongs to the Backstreet boys. All "Naruto" characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
1. Chapter 1

**JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW**

Sasuke Uchiha sat on the windowsill in his room, gazing off to the horizon. The sun was setting and it gave the sky a beatufiul color. It started out an orange shade as it was closest to the sun, then it slowly turned into red. A little farther from the sun, the red slowly turned into a slightly darker shade of pink, as it turned into a light blue, while the top of the sky was already a dark blue.

The young Uchiha averted his eyes from the burning sky and looked at the picture frame in his lap.

_**Looking at your picture from when we first met,**_

It dated from 10 years ago. He was still a young 6-years-old shinobi in training. The boy from the picture and the young man holding the picture looked almost the same (minus the age and height difference) if you weren't paying attention and didn't know him well. But, if you did know him, you would see that the 16-years-old Sasuke's eyes were dull and somewhat empty; while the little boy from the picture had eyes that shone with happiness. You could even say that they were laughing. The boy gave a small smirk to the camera as he held a fried fish on a stick in his right hand.

The other person on the picture, however, was smiling brightly to the camera while winking with her left eye, holding onto the stuffed pink bunny with one hand and latching onto the boys left arm with her other one. She had short pink hair and emerald green eyes that shone under the moonlight. They were both wearing traditional clothes, as the fireworks were lighting the sky above their heads. Behind them was a street full of laughing people who seemed to enjoy the annual festival in their village.

**_You gave me a smile that I could never forget._**

Sasuke remembered how he met the little pink-headed kunoichi-to-be. He was six and it was his first year at the Academy. It was the fifth month. Of course, he did excellent, as expected from an Uchiha. He always stayed after class for some extra training and today the time got away from him. He was running back home and didn't have time to get distracted by anything, considering his father would be furious if he was late, no matter what's the excuse. It was already nightfall and he knew that he was going to be late for dinner, so he picked up his pace. He quickly turned around the corner when he bumped into someone as they both fell to the ground. He glared up at the person who _dared_ get in his way when he realized who it was. It was that little girl who was in his class today. Sasuke usually isn't the one to socialize, but he remembered her beacuse of her pink hair that sticks out so badly. There was another thing that separeted her from other girls. It was her giant green eyes. If he was someone else he might have thought she was from another planet. But Sasuke Uchiha never thinks such stupidities. It crossed his mind that he never actually learned the girls name, because they haven't formally met. He then realized that the girl had already gotten up and started picking up the scrolls that she dropped at the impact of the hit. Apparently, she was hurrying somewhere as well. It seemed that he had forgoten that he was late, as he stood up and started picking up her scrolls as well.

„You don't have to do that. It was my fault we bumped into eachother. I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry.'' He heared the girl speak to him as he nearly dropped the scrolls at the sound of her voice. He looked up at her and saw an apologetic look in her eyes.

„Hn.'' He didn't want her to think it was all her fault, he was careless as well. He noticed she was still watching him and realized she didn't quite get waht he meant by his usual grunt. „It's alright.'' He reasured her. He wasn't going to apologize or admit that it was his fault as much as it was hers. _Pfft_. He _is_ an Uchiha. But he wasn't going to make her feel bad either.

And that's what struck him as odd. He usually didn't care about how people felt about him or wether they were hurt by something that he said or did. Even the people that he knew didn't interest him much, but this girl, whose _name_ he didn't even know, made him feel _guilty_ that _she_ felt bad. He didn't get it.

_Sasuke Uchiha _was dumbstruck.

Wow.

_That's_ a new one.

The pink-haired girl stood up as he handed her her scrolls. She gave a small 'thank you' as she began walking away.

„Hey.''

The girl twirled backwards at the unexpected call, but stood firmly anyway.

„Yes?''

„What's your name?'' He wasn't going to let the only person out fo his family he has been nice to walk away from him without telling him her name. _Psh._

„Excuse me?'' The girl looked dumbfounded as she raised one eyebrow at him.

„Tch.'' He grunted in annoyance. He _hated_ repeating himself. „Are you deaf?''

She looked at him with her brows furrowed. Apparently, she didn't like his arrogance.

He sighed, „I said, what's your name,'' and repeated.

Pause.

The pinkette just stared at him for a moment in disbelief before she burst out laughing.

_What?_

This girl dared laugh at him-

**THE SASUKE UCHIHA!**

-And think that she was going to live?

_Psh._ Ridiculous.

Ludicrous.

_ABSURD._

He was about to make a retort for laughing at him, before he realized how beautiful she looked as she laughed. He didn't even know her and the picture of her was already stuck in his mind.

_Tch._

Twitch.

His brows furrowed.

She was stuck in his head.

And that's when he concluded:

_This girl is irritating._

And he wasn't going to let her go without telling her that.

„You're annoying.'' He said in the coldest voice that he could manage in that moment.

And it seemed to work.

Why, you ask?

Because she stopped laughing.

_Good, you got her attention._

Though it didn't last long because she plastered a giant grin that split her face in half.

Twitch.

His brows furrowed even further.

_This girl is _really_ irritating._

„I'm sorry for laughing at you.'' She quickly regained her composure and apologized, though a small smile still quirked at the corners of her lips.

„It's just that you don't seem like the kind of person to ask something like that.''

„Oh?'' He looked at her in surprise. „And what kind of person _do_ I look like?''

„Well, like a cold-hearted kinda guy. I expected you to yell at me for crashing into you, not help me out with picking up my scrolls and then asking me for my name.''

Sasuke stayed silent for a moment as he looked at her surprisedly.

Was he _that_ easy to read?

„Hn.'' He didn't really have an answer for that, but he wasn't going to let her know.

„But I guess I was wrong.'' She smiled at him again as she turned to walk away.

„Oh, and by the way.'' She turned to him one last time. „I'm Sakura Haruno.''

Sasuke looked up at her again before smirking. „Hn.'' This girl _sure_ was something else. „Sasuke Uchiha.''

„Nice to meet you Sasuke.'' Sakura said as she walked away.

Sasuke stood there, watching her walk away before she turned at the next corner and dissapeared from view. It was then that reality hit him as he sprinted off to his house.

He just lost 20 minutes talking to Sakura.

And Fugaku was probably madder than ever.

Sasuke stood in the middle of the living room as he watched his furious father pace around the room in front of him. Sitting on the couch in the corner were Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, and his brother, Itachi. Mikoto gave him a worried look as Itachi watched the scene unravel in front of him amusedly.

Finally, Fugaku came to a stop right in front of his younger son.

„Sasuke.'' He said cooly but his voice was laced with anger.

„Yes, otou-san?''

„Do you know what time it is?''

„Father, I can expl-''

„IT'S 9.30 P.M. THAT'S WHAT TIME IT IS!'' His father lost his temper and yelled out at him, but quickly regained his composure and cooled down.

„How many times have I told you that a shinobi must always be on time?''

Sasuke stayed silent.

„Now. Explain to me why exactly were you_ an hour and a half _late.''

The boy took in a deep breath as he began talking.

„I was doing some extra training in the Academy backyard, and I didn't realize how much time has passed. I apologize, father.'' Sasuke bowed his head down and stared to the ground. That _was_ the truth. Well, not entirely, but what his father doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

There was a long moment of silence as Fugaku looked over what his son has just told him.

_Right._

„Well, Sasuke, you were always an obedient son. You were always on time. This is your first slip and considering you did it for something usefull I guess-''

„Just one moment father.'' Sasuke snapped his head up at his brothers voice and looked at the other side of the room.

Surely he didn't-

„Sasuke, why don't you tell father what else got you sidetracked on your way home?''

-of course he did.

„Aniki, I don't know what you're talking about.'' Sasuke feigned innocence trying to cover up his unexpected meeting with the young pinkette knowing his father wouldn't understand.

„Oh? You don't?'' Itachi got up from the couch and walked over to his little brother. „Because I'm talking about _something_ you bumped into on your way home _after_ your delayed training.''

Fugaku stared at his two sons, not understanding what Itachi was talking about.

Sasuke still stared at him as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

„Still doesn't ring a bell? Let me describe. About your height, pink hair, green eyes, soft laugh, goes to your class...''

Fugaku's face finally lit up as he realized what his elder son meant.

„Sasuke.'' He looked at his younger son.

Sasuke gulped and he already knew Fugaku had caught on. After all, he wasn't stupid. So he looked up at him, ready to face his punishment.

„Yes, father?''

„Is this true?''

...

„Yes.''

...

...

...

„Go to your room, son.''


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, jus _wishing_ he could glare a hole into it.

He was punished.

No free time for himself for the next 2 weeks. Only school and training.

In other words, pure hell.

It might seem like an easy punishment to anyone else, but being stuck in the house with Fugaku all day, having to bare with his glaring silent treatment, _oh_, it was _torture_.

And yet he didn't mind.

Because that night all he could think about was how he was going to see Sakura Haruno tomorrow in class again.

**_And nothing I could do could protect me from you that night..._**

Sasuke got up early that morning. He ate breakfast hurriedly, took a quick shower, got dressed and sprinted out of the house. His father didn't seem to notice his son's strange behaviour, and if he did he shook it off. But, his mother seemed to catch on why Sasuke was in such a hurry.

_He must really want to see that girl, if he's acting this strange. He's actually disobeying his father._

Mikoto smiled as she watched her youngest son run off to school.

_I'm glad he's happy._

Sasuke ran into his classroom at least a half hour before classes started. The room was completely empty. But it didn't seem he was the first one who got there.

There was a mint green backpack on one of the desks in the middle row.

And on the account of the small Haruno clan sign on it, Sasuke guessed it belonged to his new _acquaintance._

He looked out the window into the Academy backyard and saw Sakura practise a shuriken jutsu. She must have been there for a while, because she was breathing heavily and already looked drained. Sauke smirked to himself.

_So she's not the usual girly-girl who's more interested in boys and how she looks. She seems to care more about her training than that. Hn. Interesting._

He put his own backpack on a desk next to hers and walked outside. As he walked down the stairs and stepped in the backyard, he sat on the grass and watched her pracrice. She was obviously too indulged in her training because she didn't seem to notice him.

Though... He could be wrong.

„How long do you plan on watching me?''

Smirk.

_She's better than I thought. Note to self, don't underestimate this girl again._

„I didn't know it was ilegal to just sit here and wait until you're done so I can start my own training. And good morning to you too.'' He answered her sarcasticly, unable to hold down the smirk forming on his face. „Besides, _I'm_ usually the one to come here early for some extra training.'' That was a lie. He always did his training after class, the reason why he was so late yesterday. Well... One of the reasons, anyway. But, how would she know he was lying?

„Really?'' Sakura stopped as she turned around to look at the boy sitting a few feet behind her.

„Aa.'' If he was going to lie, he was at least going to make sure he makes a good impression.

„Well that's strange.'' The pinkette dropped her weapons to the ground and started walking towards him until she was only a meter or two away. „Because I've been coming here every day at 6 a.m. for the past 3 months and this is the first morning you came here at this time.'' She said in an accusing tone while she crossed her arms over her chest.

Oh shit...

_Busted._

In his defence, he did _not_ see that coming. He expected her to come here every once in a while so he could cover up his lie, not _every day._

This girl was more dedicated than he thought.

Well, no use in lying now since she blew his co-

„I didn't say I always came here at the same time.''

-why is he doing this to himself?

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him and then squinted her eyes into dangerous slits.

„How stupid do you think I am, Uchiha?'' She said in a vioce with a warning undertone.

She thought he would cowar and apologize for lying.

_Oh_, how _wrong_ she was.

Sasuke's smirk grew even more as his eyes lit up in amusement.

_Fiesty._

„We should get to class.'' He stood up and started walking towards the entrance.

„Hey! I thought you said you wanted to train!'' He heard her yell out at him, but shook it off and continued walking until a sharp object came in contact with his cheek. He stopped in dead tracks and watched in horror between the blood trickling down from his right cheek and the metal object cut into the wall in front of him.

Unbelievable.

She _dared_ throw a fricking _shuriken _at him?

_This girl is _definatly_ irritating._

She just kept throwing surprises at him. He couldn't read her. He _always_ read people _easily_. And yet, he couldn't seem to predict any of her moves. He didn't get it!

He slowly turned around to see her giving him a small triumphant smirk of her own.

„Now we can go.'' Sakura said as she picked up her weapons and walk passed the dumbstruck Uchiha who looked at her in disbelief. He stood there for another moment until he heard her call out to him one more time.

„Oi, 'you coming or do I have to carry you as well?''

Sasuke broke out of his trance and, without realizing it, he immediately walked to her as they both walked into the classroom.

**_Wrapped around your finger, always on my mind._**

Their class was already almost full with little Academy students. Sakura walked over to her desk and realized that Sasuke was sitting next to her. She smiled at him and started pulling her books out of her backpack.

„You're sitting next to me?'' She said in the sweetest voice that nearly made Sasuke drop out of his seat. She was completely getting to him, even though he just met her _yesterday_. Of course, he wasn't going to let it show, so he just kept his cool composure.

„Aa.'' He looked at her carefully when another thing about her caught him off guard. She smiled at him. And, even thought he wouldn't admit it, it was the most beautiful smile he's ever seen. He raised one eyebrow at her and stared in complete disbelief. „Alright. Let me ask you something. First, you act completely strange towards me, then you throw a _shuriken_ at my face and now you're smiling at me and being_ nice_... What's wrong with you?'' He nearly snapped out at her as a pout formed on his face. Apparently, she found it hilarious.

_Great, she's laughing at me again. What is with this strange girl?_

It seemed that this time she couldn't control her laughing fit as well as she did the last time.

He frowned at her.

„What's so funny this time?''

Her laughter cooled down just enough for her to be able to talk. „It's just... When you pout... You look so funny...''

„I wasn't _pouting. _Uchihas don't _pout._'' And without knowing it, he pouted again. So, normally, she continued laughing.

„I'm not pouting!'' He yelled out at her as his face turned crimson. Was it from anger or embaressement, she didn't know.

„Ok, ok, I'll stop laughing...'' The pinkette willed herself to a stop as she sighed out. „Ah. There. Happy?''

„Hn.'' Sasuke pouted _once again_ as he slumped down in his seat, and Sakura urged herself not to laugh.

The classroom was full and the only person they were waiting for now was Iruka-sensei.

The day went slow. Classes were boring, because they were mostly learning things Sasuke already knew. When the school day was finally over, he went to the training grounds. He spent an hour there when he noticed he wasn't alone. He twirled around to the tree from which the chakra was coming. It took him a while to realize who it was, before he smirked and continued his training.

„How long do you plan on watching me?'' He repeated her sentence from that morning in a rather sarcastic tone. Sakura came out from behind the tree and then leaned against it.

„Not long.'' She answered truthfully. „I thought I might wait for you to finish so we can walk home together.'' This statement made the young Uchiha's movements falter as the kunai he just threw fell gracelessly to the ground below the target he was aiming at.

„Huh?'' He turned around to look at her strangely. This earned him a giggle from the girl, but it died away quickly as she noticed his death glare.

„Are you deaf?'' She figured since he copied one of her comments, she might as well copy one of his. „But, since you seem like you're going to take some time to finish that fire justsu you were working on, I might as well just go home.'' The pinkette shruged it off as she started walking away.

Sasuke stared at her back. Was she calling him _weak?_ He frowned as he decided that, if that was the case, then he was going to prove her wrong.

„Hey, wait a minute!''

Sakura stopped as she head him call her. She turned around slowly as she looked at him. „Yes, Sasuke?''

„Are you saying that I can't do that jutsu?''

„Well... I'm not saying you_ can't_ do it.'' She explained as she walked over to him. „All I'm saying is that, from what I've seen is that you could use some help on it, because, let's face it, you do need some improvement.''

The Uchiha stared at her unbelievingly. _This can't be happening._ After a moment of looking at her with his brows raised high, he started laughing.

„What are you laughing about? I'm being honest with you.'' Sakura told him matter-of-factly.

„Oh, really?'' Sasuke said mockingly. „You think that _I _need help? And, what? You think you could do it better than me?''

Sakura shrugged it off. „I don't think it's that hard. I mean, if you think about it, with perfect chakra control, good knowledge of the hand signs and concentration, it couldn't be that difficult.''

„Oh, yeah? Well, if you're so great let me see you try it.'' Sasuke said rather harshly. She dared think she was _better_ than _him_? _Psh. _Ridiculous.

The pinkette seemed to think about his proposal for a moment before she smiled up at him. „Sure, why not?''

Sasuke looked at her surprisedly for a moment before moving out of her way as she made the hand signs. She breathed in deeply and after a moment a medium fire ball blew out of her mouth. It wasn't as big as his brothers' but it was still better than he expected. It stayed in the air for a while before it cooled down and dissapeared completely. After that she turned to the stunned Uchiha and smiled at him triumphatly.

„See? I told you it wasn't that hard.''

Sasuke looked in disbelief at the air in which the fire ball was just amoment ago. Then he looked at the girl grining at him. After he stopped gawking his eyes out, he frowned at her, picked up his bag and started walking away from the training feild.

Sakura looked at him worriedly for a moment, realizing her mistake. „Sasuke! Wait a second!'' The Uchiha delt badly with faliure. He probably had the same issues at home. No wonder he was always so bitter. She knew all about his genius older borther, Itachi. She couldn't even imagine how hard it was for him to try and measure up to his brother. His family was probably always comparing Sasuke to Itachi. The pressure was terrifying for someone so young, so he drove himself even harder to surpass his big brother. He was aiming pretty high. So it was natural that it hurt even harder when he failed like this. Itachi Uchiha was one of the best shinobi in their country. So, if she was better than Sasuke in one of _his_ clan's jutsus he probably felt even worse than she thought. She should've just backed off. Now she has to fix it.

Sasuke heard her call out to him a few times and noticed she followed him, so he picked up his pace. He wouldn't let her see him like this.

He wouldn't let anyone see him cry.

The picture of her doing the Katon Goukakkyu No Jutsu almost _perfectly _from her first try made even more angry tears slid down his cheeks. He sensed her get closer to him so he started running.

_Why can't I do it? How on Earth am I supposed to catch up to Itachi if I can't even do a simple justu that _a girl _from my class perfected in a second? What good am I for if I can't do anything right?_

_Now that I think about it, this isn't the only thing she's good at. In class she always knows the answer to every question. At practise she always hits her targets. Her ninjutsu is pretty good. Her taijustu needs some improvement considering she's sort of a clutz, but none the less, she's somewhat good at that too. And her genjutsu is amazing. At this rate, soon enough _she'll_ be best in calss. Just like..._

Sasuke stopped in dead tracks, forgetting she was still cahsing him, as realization dawned upon him.

_Just like Itachi..._

Sakura saw the boy stop at the corner as she hurried up, making sure he doesn't run away again. She slided in front of him and stopped in dead tracks as she saw something that nearly crushed her.

She saw tears streaming down his face.

„Sasuke, I'm sor-''

„HOW COME YOU DID IT AT FIRST TRY AND I'VE BEEN PRACTICING EVERY DAY AND NIGHT FOR THE PAST WEEK AND I'M NOT EVEN CLOSE?'' Sasuke yelled out at her in pure rage.

„I'm sorry. I should've realized that. I didn't mean to discomfort you.'' Sakura bowed her head.

Sasuke calmed himself down as he realized he just snapped at her. „I'm sorry too. It's not your fault. I overreacted. I'm sorry.''

Sakura let out a dry laugh as she tried to lighten up the mood. „You said that already.''

Sasuke half-smiled at her attempt to cheer him up. He decided, since he was already grounded, how much more trouble could he get himself into if he was late tongith too?

Oh, that silly, silly boy.

**_The days would blend cause we stayed up all night._**


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke had no idea that when he came back home _two hours_ late, that he would be in so much trouble.

Wow...

And he's supposed to be _the smart one._

„SASUKE UCHIHA, I FORBID YOU TO SEE THIS GIRL EVER AGAIN!'' Fugaku yelled out, the rage more than visible on his face. Mikoto stayed beside her husband, trying to calm him down, but it obviously didn't work. Itachi stayed in the corner of the room, away from the fire preparing to burst out of his father. He somewhat felt guilty, because if he hadn't mentioned Sakura in the first pace, Fugaku probably wouldn't have found out about her at all. But, this was his little brothers' problem, and if Itachi wanted Sasuke to become a mature and responsible adult, he would have to figure his own way out of this mess. Although, if things got too heated up between his father and brother, he would certainly step in and try to smooth things out.

„But, father we go to the same class. How can I-'' Sasuke tried to counter his father with logic but it didn't work.

„I DON'T CARE! SHE IS MAKING YOU FALL BEHIND IN CLASS, YOU'RE BEING TARDY AND YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON YOUR TRAINING! THAT GIRL IS GIVING THE UCHIHA CLAN A BAD NAME JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LITTLE CRUSH!''

„WHAT?!'' Sasukes' face turned vermilion red as he objected to his fathers' latest statement (God, I feel like a lawyer...) „I AM NOT CRUSHING ON SAKURA! THAT'S RIDICULOUS!''

„DON'T TALK BACK AT ME, YOUNG MAN! IF SHE IS MAKING MY WELL-MANERED AND OBEDIENT SON ACT SO... _REBELIOUS_ TOWARDS ME, I WILL PERSONALLY MAKE SURE SHE IS TRANSFERED TO ANOTHER CLASS, SO SHE DOESN'T GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR TRAINING TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL SHINOBI ANYMORE!''

„_WHAT_?!'' Sasuke screamed out in pure anger at this point. „YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO HER! SHE WORKED HARD TO GET INTO THAT CLASS!''

„IT DOESN'T MATTER TO ME! ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE FUTURE AND MAKING SURE YOU GIVE THE UCHIHA A GOOD NAME, JUST LIKE YOUR BROTHER!''

„THAT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT, ISN'T IT!? WHENEVER_ I _DID SOMETHING GOOD YOU WOULD EITHER SAY THAT ITACHI WOULD'VE DONE DONE IT BETTER OR THAT I SHOULD TRY HARDER TO BE LIKE MY BROTHER! I'M SICK OF IT! YOU NEVER GIVE ME ANY CREDIT FOR ANYTHING! AND I WON'T LET YOU DO THAT TO SAKURA JUST BECAUSE ALL YOU THINK ABOUT IS YOURSELF AND THE CLANS' NAME!'' Sasuke didn't even realize all the things he had just said, until he saw his fathers' face.

„Sasuke... Go to your room. _Now_.'' Fugaku hissed through his teeth.

„Father let me-''

„I SAID NOW!''

And with that Sasuke sprinted to his bedroom.

Sasuke once again laid on his bed, with his arms under his head as he gazed up at the ceiling.

„Why is Father like this? Why can't he just let me be friends with Sakura? I don't see why it's such a big deal...'' He muttered out into his empty room.

„It's such a big deal because he doesn't want you to slack off.'' He heared the voice of his brother come from the doorway.

„Nii-san...'' Sasuke sat up and looked straight at his brother.

„Listen, Sasuke, I'm sorry I told Father about Sakura. I truly didn't think this would be his reaction. Although, I _also _didn't think that you would go and disobey Father like this.'' Itachi sat on the edge of Sasukes' bed as he poked his little brothers forehead with his intial and middle finger and smiled at him. „I guess I didn't realize you felt this strongly about this girl.''

Sasukes' cheeks turned crimson once again. „WHY DO I HAVE TO KEEP SAYING IT TO YOU PEOPLE?! I_ DON'T _LIKE HER!''

„Oh really?'' His brother chuckled. „Because I don't know if you noticed but whenever _she's _in the conversation your face turns red, even though you never blush. You start yelling, even though you nearly never let anything get to you. And I never saw you stand up, _let alone _yell out at Father like that for anyone or anything.'' Itachi smiled at him once again. „I apologize, little brother, but I know you too well. And you surely feel something for Sakura, even though you won't admit it.''

„Itachi...'' Sasuke cast his eyes downward. „Could you talk to Father and make him change his mind about transfering Sakura?'' _I don't want her to lose all the hard work she's done because of me._

As if his brother had read his mind, Itachi smirked and asked „Is she that good?''

...

„She's second best in class.''

Well... Itachi _certainly_ didn't see_ that_ coming.

From what he's heard from the teachers, Sakura Haruno was good, but he didn't know she was one of the best in class. Now he definatly has to meet this girl.

„Alright, Sasuke.'' Itachi stood from the bed and walked to the door. „I'll see what I can do.''

„Really? You'll do that?'' Sasuke jumped up from the bed, his face overwhlemed with happiness.

„Well, you do seem to feel strongly about it.'' Itachi said before a thought poped into his mind as he smirked. „Plus, I can't wait to meet the girl who's one of the best in your class. She _must_ be interesting.''

Sasuke felt something knot up in the pitch of his stomach. „Hey! What are you planning on doing, huh?''

Itachi let a laugh escape his lips. „Not only are you worried for her, you're jealous.'' He commented as he walked out the door.

„I'M NOT JEALOUS!''

...

„Sasuke, you're yelling again.'' He heard his brother scold him from the hallway. He could practically hear the smirk in his voice. He knew his brother was just teasing him, but deep down he truly hoped he didn't mean anything seriously.

If everything goes well and Itachi gets his Father to change his mind about Sakura, then he could still see her. He couldn't wait for tomorrow. She said that she came in early every morning for the past 3 months to train in the backyard. That means she'll be there tomorrow as well. He smirked to himslef.

_Looks like I'm getting up early again._

And that's when Sasuke realized something.

Usually before he went to bed, he thought what he was going to train tomorrow and how great he will do in class. Now all he could think about was that he was going to see Sakura again. He smiled to himslef, as he slowly drifted to sleep.

**_You and I were everything, everything to me._**

* * *

„SASUKE! C'MON MAN, WE GOTTA GO!''

Sasuke snapped out of his trance as he heard Suigetsu call him from the hallway. He glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall above his bed. It was 1.00 a.m. They were supposed to move out at midnight. He sighed as he got up from the window railing and packed the picture frame in his backpack.

_I guess there's not much more I can do now..._

He picked up his bag and katana that was leaning against the wall by the door and walked out of his room. Waiting for him in the hallway were Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo. His new team.

„Hn.'' He closed his eyes and moved past them. „Let's go.'' He said in a monotone voice as they all followed him. Suigetsu was at his right side, Karin on the left. Juugo was a little behind them.

„So, what's our mission plan Sasuke?'' Suigetsu asked anxiously after a moment of silence.

„We're heading for the Fire country. We'll travel all night, and after we cross the border, we'll rest in the nearest town. After that...'' Sasuke trailed off as his teammates looked at him, waiting for an answer. They were all a little surprised by his behaviour. First, he was the one who was late tonight. Second, he seemed a bit different, farther away from them than usual. And now, he's getting lost in his thoughts. Sasuke Uchiha never loses his track of thought.

As if he had read their minds, or had just noticed them staring at him, he finished his sentence.

...

„... We'll be heading to Konoha.''

Sasuke's team has been travelling for hours as they reached the Fire country border. It was daylight, somewhere around 11.00 a.m. Surprisingly enough, they passed the border without much trouble. There weren't many gurads and they were in sort of a mild-panic and they didn't seem to notice who they were letting pass. The young shinobi didn't know why they were looking so frantic, but idin't think much of it.

„Karin.'' Sasuke spoke up as they leaped through the trees. „Which town is nearest to us?''

All four shinobi came to a stop on one of the branches. The kunoichi closed her eyes and concentrated on her suroundings. After a moment of waiting she spoke up.

„There is a town a couple of miles to the south from our locatiton. It seems to be the nearest at the moment.''

„Alright, then that's where we're heading!'' Suigetsu exclaimed in a relieved voice. Sasuke only let him have two breaks since they left their hideout. Doesn't he know how heavy that sowrd is?

„Let's move then.'' Sasuke leaped in fornt of them as they followed close behind him.

They arrived at the town about a half hour since they left the border. The town wasn't big. It had two hotels, a few bars and the rest were stores and houses. Team Taka walked into the first inn they saw and checked in. As they took the key, they went to their bedroom.

„I think I'm gonna go look around town.'' Suigetsu commented to his comrades as he put the giant sword from his back to lean against the wall.

„Didn't you say you were tired?'' Karin said in a sarcastic voice as Suigetsu walked to the door only to stop and look back at her with a grin.

„I am. I'm tired of you. That's why I'm leaving.''

„WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE OF S-'' Karin was preparing to lunge at him when a voice stopped her.

„Karin. Suigetsu. Knock it off you're giving me headache.'' Sasuke told them clodly as he pulled something out of his backpack and sat on the windowsill once again.

The two teens remained silent for a moment before Suigetsu spoke up again. „Whatever. I'll be back in a while.'' He finished off as he walked out closing the door behind him.

Karin looked around the room.

She and Sasuke were alone.

She blushed at the thought.

Juugo had left without a word a little before Suigetsu.

She took off her glasses and placed them on her bed as she walked over to the young man sitting on the railing.

„Sasuke...'' She said in soft, low voice, different from her usual hard and bossy one.

The Uchiha looked at her impassively as he answered harshly. „What do you want?''

He seemed to catch her off guard or actually hurt her a little, but she quickly regained her composure. „Do you want to go look around town?

He looked at her as if she was an idiot. „If you want to go look around, go catch up with Suigetsu. I'm not interested.''

„But, Sasuke... I don't want to leave you here alone. What will you do here all by your self?'' She purred, pulling herself closer to him.

„I'll manage.'' He said simply as he pushed her away with his free hand that wasn't holding that picture. „Now move away.''

Karin was just about to give up as her eyes cast downward to the picture frame in his lap. She frowned lightly.

„Who is that?'' Her usual voice returned as she pointed to the girl in the picture.

„None of your business.'' Sasuke said coldly as he tried to pull away from her and hide the picture, but she caught it just before he could put it back in his bag.

„Sasuke, who is that girl?'' Karin said in pure rage, seeing that if he didn't want her to know about the girl, Sasuke must have felt something for her in the past. That is unless he still does. As the tought went through her mind, she yanked the frame from his grasp.

„Karin, give it back!'' Sasuke ordered not in the mood for the girl's games.

„No, tell me who she is!'' She turned her back to him as she looked over the picture.

It looked like it dated from a few years ago, while he was still in Konoha. He looked like he was around the age of twelve. He stood in front of what seemed like an academy because of all the little shinobi-to-be's running from the entrance. He had his right hand in his pocket as he looked at the camera with a small smirk on his face. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with a high collar and white shorts. His whole composure was nearly the same to the Sasuke she knew, but there was something different. His eyes. Back then, they were shining with something she never saw on the Sasuke Uchiha she knew.

Happiness.

He was happy.

What angered her most was the other person on the photo. Sasuke's left arm was curled around a girl's waist. He also seemed to be forcing down a blush. The girl was grining at the camera while holding up a peace sign with her left hand while winking and hugging Sasuke with her right arm. She was wearing a red dress with green cycling shorts. What was ridiculous about her was her appearence. She had pink hair. _Pink._ That's ridiculous! Who has _pink hair_? She also had large, bright green eyes that seemed alien like. But, it looked like it fit her, considering her _giant forehead._

Karin didn't get it.

How could Sasuke feel _anything_ for someone like _this_?

She looks like a freak show.

The kunichi blinked as she realized that Sasuke had finally manged to get the picture back into his possesion.

„Karin, I swear if you ever do anything like that again, I won't be held responsible for my actions.'' Sasuke hissed through his teeth.

„Will you tell me who she is or not?''

„No.''

„Why not?!''

„Because, like I said, my life is none of your business.''

„Yes it is.'' Karin countered. „We're on the same team. I have a right to know.''

„No, you don't.'' Sasuke held on to his statements firmly.

Karin huffed and walked to the counter to get her glasses. „Whatever.'' She muttered in disappointment as she walked out of the room.

Sasuke sighed in relief as he sat back on the windowsill, watching the sky sbove his head. He glanced back at the picture and before he knew it memories were overflowing him again.

**_I just want you to know,_**


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke sat on a bench in fornt of the Uchiha estate, silently sobbing into his knees. The ANBU black ops were investigating his house. He just still couldn't believe his brother would do such a thing. His sobbing increased as he remembered what happened the night before.

„_Why brother? Why did you do this?'' Sasuke sobbed as he looked up at his loder brother._

_Itachi stayed silent for a moment before simply answering. „To measure my capacity.''_

_Sasuke's eyes widened as he tried to understand what his brother was saying. „To... measure your... capacity...? That's... why you... _killed_ everyone?'' Sasuke managed to say between his sobs._

„_That's right.''_

„_Then... Why didn't you kill me as well?''_

_Itachi closed his eyes as he thought over his answer, before looking at his little brother. „Because you're not worth my time or effort.'' He answered as he began walking away._

_Sasuke got to his feet, angered, and he lunged at his brother. Itachi merely caught his hand and threw him into the wall. Sasuke closed his eyes in pain while he spoke up. „I can't believe you could do this to mother and father.''_

_Itachi smirked. „That's because you have too much faith in people. While the truth is that everyone will let you down in the end. Even your own family. You will always be alone.''_

_Sasuke reopened his eyes as onyx met crimson. He ran at his brother once again, and was thrown back into the wall. Sasuke winced in pain as Itachi threw a kunai at him and cut his cheek._

„_You can't beat me Sasuke. Your hatred is not strong enough. _You're _not strong enough.''_

_Sasuke looked up at him one last time before sprinting out of the house, reailizing how serious his brother was. He still heard Itachi's voice echoing behind him._

„_Foolish little brother... If you want to kill me... Then hate me. Despise me with your whole heart. So run. Survive. Cling to your pathetic life. And once your eyes are the same as mine... Then find me. And then... I will fight you.''_

„Sasuke!''

The boy snapped out of his trance as he heard a girl's voice call out to him.

_Sakura._

The pinkette stood in front of him, looking him straight in the eye. She had just heard about what happened and rushed over as quick as she could, and yet, she still didn't know what to say. So she just stood there for a moment as they looked at eachother, Sakura's eyes sad for her friend and Sasuke's eyes sad as well, red-rimmed, angry, lonley and, somewhat empty. It seemed to them like that silence lasted forever before Sakura spoke up.

„I'm sorry Sasuke.'' She said in a hurt and strained voice, as she tried to relate to him because it would help him get over this, but she knew she never could fully understand what he was going through.

Sasuke didn't answer, only hung his head, facing the ground. Sakura moved to sit next to him before he snapped at her. „WHY ARE YOU HERE? ARE YOU HERE TO MOCK ME?!''

„Wha-... Sasuke I'm here to help yo-''

„WELL, I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, OK?! YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW, SO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!''

Sakura stared at him wide-eyed before frowning. She knew he had a lot going on right now, but he didn't have to yell at her for just trying to _help_ him.

„Look, I know this isn't easy for you, but I'm just trying to make it easier for you to get over. You don't have to yell at me! If you don't want me here just say it like a normal person, not like a maniac.'' She finished off as she stood before a hand grabbed her and pulled her back down.

„How the hell would you know what I'm going through...?'' The young Uchiha hissed through his teeth. „I don't need your pitty Sakura. I'm fine on my own, I don't need _you_.''

Sakura looked at the boy with furious eyes attempting to yell at him, but knew it would be wrong. So she just calmly answered. „You can't be alone all your life Sasuke. You need someone to help you right now, no matter how much you hated to admit it. And I'm going to stick with you through this. And I couldn't care less if you hated me for wanting to help you, I will always be there if you need someone to talk to about this. So when you're able to finally look this over and get over it... find me, ok?'' She finished sweetly standing up once again while she began to walk away.

Sasuke watched the girl's back in disbelief. Why would she do this? He just yelled at her, told her to back off, been rude to her even though she just wanted to help, and she still says that she would be there for him.

_Why?_

Sasuke stood from the bench and ran over to her as he drooped to his knees and slipped his arms to her waist.

„Why would you do that?'' He whispered while he cried to her back. He wasn't even sure has she heard him before she turned around and sat on the ground beside him. She held his hand in hers and spoke to him in a voice he's never heard from her before.

„Because right now, what you need is a friend. And it's ok if you're angry or sad or disappointed. It's good to show your feelings. Because if you bottle them up inside, it will only hurt more. So, if you need to scream, then go a head. If you need to yell at someone, yell at me. If you need to cry, I'm here to cry with you.''

**Because best friends help eachother in times of need.**

Sasuke squeezed her hand harder.

„And even when the rest of the world walks out...''

Tears slipped from thier eyes and rolled down their cheeks.

„...I'll still be there...''

**Because best friends make you a stronger person.**

The young Uchiha rested his head on her left shoulder.

„...I promise.''

Sakura squeezed his hand back as she hooked her other arm around his shoulders.

Sasuke sobbed loud and long as they sat on the ground under a blooming cherry blossom tree.

**Because best friends don't let you fall.**

* * *

„Man, this town is so _boring._'' Siugetsu whined as he came back into their hotel room. „Why didn't we just go to a bigger and more interesting town? There's nothing to do here.''

Sasuke sighed at his companion. Why did _all_ of his teammates have to be this _annoying_?

„Siugetsu, we're not here on a vaction. We're here for a mission. Besides, we're leaving tomorrow.''

Suigetsu sighed in relief as he slumped down on his bed. _God_, he was tired.

Sasuke still sat on his spot on the window railing. It's been nearly two hours since Karin had left him alone in the room and he still hasn't moved. He decided that he wasn't going to dwell on Sakura and bother himself with _'what if'_-s. So, he had placed the photograph back in his bag and continued watching the small town from the window an hour or so ago.

Just as Suigetsu fell gracelessly on his bed, the door opened and Karin and Juugo came in.

„Where were you two?'' Came Suigetsu's muffled voice from his head that was burried in a pillow.

„I was looking around the forest around the town.'' Juugo replied shortly.

„Mhm.'' Suigetsu hummed in agreement. „How 'bout you, Karin?'' He raised his head to look at the kunoichi.

„I was looking around town and visited a few shops to look for any information on Danzou, but the only thing, or should I say _person_, everyone seemed to talk about was some girl that looked like she was a medical shinobi who came here a while ago for a medical seminar and happened to save the town from an attack of rouge shinobi that occured in that time.'' Karin answered with obvious spite towards the girl everyone was so dazed by.

„Just out of curiousity sake,'' Suigetsu started off „But did you catch the girls' name?''

Sasuke was listening lightly to their conversation while looking out the window.

„Hmph. I did.'' Karin started off angrily. „Sakura something. Sakura Haruno, I think. According to the towns people she's still staying in a hotel downtown.''

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as he jumped of the railing and looked at Karin.

„Are you sure?''

Karin blinked in surprise before responding. „Yes, I'm positive.'' She eyed him suspiciously before realization dawned on her. „Do you know her by any chance?''

„Hn.'' Sasuke grunted, as he hurriedly walked out of the room.

„What's his problem?'' Suigetsu asked his teammates while looking at the door the male just practicly ran out of. „I never thought a girl could get him that riled up. Looks like you have competition, Kar- Karin?'' Suigetsu averted his eyes to where the girl was standing before he realized she ran after Sasuke.

Karin chased after Sasuke as he stormed through town.

„Sasuke!''

He didn't pay attention to her.

„Will you slow down a bit?''

Once again no response.

„SASUKE!''

He finally stopped as he turned around to look at her, sharingan twirling with rage. „What do you want, Karin?!'' He yelled at her, annoyance filling his voice.

Karin stopped in dead tracks as she saw just how angry he was. She couldn't understand. How could a girl have this much impact on him? She saw her picture and she wasn't that pretty. Much more beautiful women threw themselves at Sasuke all the time and he never cared the smallest bit. But this girl... How much did she mean to him while he was still in Konoha? Was she his girlfriend? Even if that was the case, then he would've just goten over her with time. But he still cares. She could hear it in his voice when she mentioned her back at the apartment. It was full of hope.

Hope that he would see her agian.

And that's what angered her the most.

He still wanted to be with this Sakura person.

Karin regained her stance as she asked him. „Is this Sakura the girl from the picture?''

Sasuke stayed silent for a moment before turning away from her and answering. „It's none of your buisness, Karin.'' And with that he was gone.

_He's going to see her._

Karin's eyes narrowed as she walked back to thier apartment in defeat.

Sasuke ran through the streets as he noticed the big hotel in the middle of town. It seemed more luxurious then the others. No surprise. The Hokage would only provide the best for her precious student.

Sasuke ran through the front door right to the receptionist desk.

The woman smiled politely at him. „How can I help you?''

„Which room is Sakura Haruno in?''

„Oh, Haruno-sama? I'm sorry, sir. You just missed her. She left an hour ago.''

Those words stroke Sasuke like an arrow to his heart. He didn't actually think it would affect him this much. He cast his eys downward and walked out of the hotel in disappointment. It seemed like a giant shadow was standing over him as he walked slowly through town back to the apartment.

_**That I've been fighting to let you go.**_


	5. Chapter 5

The next day, Team Taka woke up early and moved out of town around 7 in the morning. They were travelling most of the day until they reached the gates of Konoha. Sasuke decided that they will stay out of the village for the night and attack the next day.

„So, this is your old home, eh Sasuke?'' Suigetsu stood on a tree branch looking over the walls that guarded the village from potential attackers. Such as themselves. The place looked nice. The streets were lighted as people passed eachother politely saying hello. It was already nightfall when they came near.

„Hn.'' Sasuke grunted in response before looking up at the male and frowning. „Suigetsu. Get down here.'' Sasuke, Karin and Juugo set up camp and were all sitting under the tree that Suigetsu was on.

„Aw... But I wanna see more of your village.'' Suigetsu whined as he childishly stomped his foot on the branch. The impact was stronger than expected and shortly after the branch split in half as Suigetsu started falling to the ground.

„Now, Suigets-'' Sasuke didn't notice his companion's mistake until he looked up to see that Suigetsu was falling straight beside him.

„Uh.'' Karin sighed in frustration. „You are completely worhtless Suigetsu. I don't see why you think I'm the one who embarrasses you when you're so good at it yourself.''

Suigetsu growled in rage under his breath and shot the kunoichi sittin across the fire a dirty look.

„I don't remember asking for your opinion on my free fall.'' Then he turned his back to her and muttered under his breath. „Bitch.''

Unfortunately for Sasuke, she heard it anyways.

„WHAT WAS THAT YOU JACKASS?!''

Suigetsu smirked as he turned around to face her once more. „You deaf or something Karin? I said: Stop pissing me the hell of, _bitch._'' The last word came out of his mouth like a curse. If Karin wasn't already fumming, this surely would have done it.

„UHHH! YOU LITTLE –'' She stood up at this point getting ready to hit him when a calm, slightly irritated voice stopped her.

„Karin, that's enough. Suigetsu, stop daring her into a fight.'' Sasuke looked between the two shinobi before getting up and jumping to a branch on the tree that Suigetsu was standing on just moments ago. He sat down on it and gazed over the village he used to call home. If there was one thing Suigetsu and Karin's fighting was good for, then it was keeping his mind off of Sakura. He hadn't thought about her the entire day.

Well... Until now.

**_Somedays I make it through,_**

As he sat there looking over the village, he felt like he's going back in time, to the year they were graduating from the Academy.

Sasuke sat on a bench in the school backyard during break they had between classes. His arms were streched on the edge of the bench as he basicly occupied it entirely. A group of girls stood a few feet behind him sighing and squealing at everything he did.

„Oh my God, did you see the way he pushed his bangs out of his eyes?''

„Oh, oh, and did you see the way he gazed at the sky just a moment ago?''

„He is so dreamy!''

Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance at the comments the girls were making. A small, barely visible smirk crossed his usually stoic face. Though, he couldn't blame them. He was _irresistible_. But, put that aside, they didn't have to show their appreciation by swooning over everything he did. But, the one thing bugged him even more than that. It was the fact that _every_ girl in the Academy, younger or older, was crazy about him. That is, exept the one that he wanted.

As the thought crossed his mind, Sasuke's face lit up as he felt the familiar presence and his smirk grew wider. He gazed up at the girl in front of him with a look on his face that would throw any other girl to her knees. This girl, however seemed completely unfazed by his looks. She just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest and a playfull look in her eyes that someone else might have not noticed. But, he noticed. Which in turn made his smirk grow more smug.

„Are you gonna hog the hole bench, or you gonna make some room for me too?'' She asked skepticly.

The young Uchiha's eyes lit up in amusement.

„Hn. I might as well grace you with my presence.'' He answered back arrogantly while sliding to the side making room for her to sit next to him.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her best friend, giving him her famous are-you-a-complete-moron look.

„I swear _to God_, Sasuke. I don't know how you can wake up everyday and _not_ drown in your own self image.'' The pinkette said matter-of-factly as she sat next to him. This, of course, earned her surprised gasps and death glares from the girls standing behind them.

Sasuke noticed her turn to look at them with a questioning glance as if she didn't get what the big deal was. _Psh._ She was sitting next to the cutest guy in the Academy who was practicly _holding_ her. _As if she didn't know_.

„Oi, Uchiha. What's up with your fanclub? They look like they're gonna kill me.'' She said a bit worriedly as she slaped him on the stomach with the back of her hand to get his attention.

„Hn.'' He said as while he rubbed the sore spot that she just hit. „Just ignore them.''

„Oh my God, Sasuke-kun is sooooo cute!'' One of the girls squealed looking like she was in a trance. This nearly made Sakura throw up.

„Like, I know. I don't understand what he, like, sees in that girl.'' Another one answered, who seemed a little dense, and it took the pinkette a second to realize they were talking about her.

„Hey.'' Sakura turned to the boy next to herand looked at him dumbfounded. „Are they talking about me?''

Sasuke blinked at her question. Since when was she_ stupid_?

„Dear God, please tell me that question wasn't serious.''

At the look on his face, Sakura spontaneously burst into laughter that made her clench her sides.

The Uchiha frowned at the girl sitting next to him who was bending over as she laughed at him. _Again._

„Oh my God, she just laughed at Sasuke-kun.''

„The nerve she has...''

Sakura's laughter died slowly as she looked over to Sasuke's fangirls. She raised one eyebrow at them before lening close to Sasuke and impersonating one of them.

„Like, oh my Gosh, Sasuke-_kun_, they're, like, _so_ _annoying_.'' She strained the last two words in an irritating fashion that made both of them burst out laughing. The infamous fanclub gasped as they saw Sakura make Sasuke _laugh_. Sasuke Uchiha doesn't _laugh_. He doesn't even _smile_. How did she _do _that?

Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he laughed like this. As a matter of fact, the only person in the world that could make him laugh this hard was Sakura herself. They both looked up as they saw Sasuke's fangirls walk away, sulking in defeat.

„YES!'' Sakura threw her fists in the air as she yelled out when they were out of earshot.

Sasuke looked at her quetioningly. „What?''

„They're gone. _Finally._'' The pinkette answered in a relieved voice.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. She never had a problem with his fangirls. Actually, she spent most of her time making fun of him for it. Why would she change her attitide towards them so suddenly? And that's when it hit him as he smirked smugly. She noticed. Sakura blinked in surprise as she put her hands back down.

„What is it?''

„I don't remember you having a problem with them.''

„_Psh_. Who said I have a problem with them?''

„_You_ just did. What's the matter?'' Sasuke asked in a husky voice as he leaned in closer to her to the point where their noses were almost touching. „_Jealous?_'' He slipped the word of his tounge in a rather sexy matter, the smirk never leaving his face. He glanced down at her lips for the slightest moment.

_God, the things I want to do to those lips..._

Sasuke shrugged of the teasing voice in the back of his mind, reminding him how he was honestly thinking something about the same lines. Instead, he focused on her face and when her face turned a dark shade of red, his smirk grew even wider. Although, she seemed to regain her calm rather quickly.

„You wish.'' She closed one eye and pushed him slightly away from her, even though he was still smirking and watching her with half-lided eyes. A thought just popped into Sakura's mind as she smiled triumphantly. „Besides, what's with that voice? If I didn't know you any better I'd think you were hittting on me.''

It was Sasuke's turn to blush. „What?!'' He shrieked out quickly turning even redder. „Why on Earth would I hit on you?'' His voice incredibly high.

After hearing her friends shriek, Sakura burst out laughing, once again. „_Dude_... You did _not_ fall for that one? I was just kidding.'' She punched his shoulder, still laughing, when she got up. „Come on. Class is about to start.'' She shot him one more smile as she walked to the building.

Sasuke sighed before getting up and going after her.

_That was a close one..._

„Sasuke!'' The said boy snapped out of his trance again by the loud sound of Suigetsu's voice. He looked down from the branch to the boy calling him. „How long are you gonna stay up there?'' Suigetsu smiled sheepishly at him.

„Hn.''

The swordsman sighed loudly. „You know, it wouldn't kill you to give an _actual_ answer every now an then.''

„Aa.''

„Ugh...'' Suigetsu grunted in defeat and pulled his hand up to his head. Between The Bitch, Mr. Arrogant and Silent-boy over there he was starting to get a headache.

Snort.

_Starting? I've had a headache since day one._

The young Uchiha paid little attention to his comrade. He just continued gazing over the village. The small bright rays peeking over the horizon told him that it was near sunrise.

Amazing.

He had spent the entire night thinking about Sakura.

**_And then there's nights that never end._**

Maybe he should try and get some sleep. He was in for a long day.

_Sasuke blinked once and found himself laying on his bed in his old room. He looked down at his body and realized that he was shirtless and wearing only a pair of dark blue boxers._

What the hell...?

_He got up and sat on the edge of the bed while he looked around the room. It was night and the only light illuminating the room was the light of the candles lit all around the room. Everything was the same as it was when he left. The furniture was all in the same spot, all seemed to be in order. Except one thing. The picture frame of Team 7 was facing him fully as it stood on the nightstand by his bed, instead of being laid on the counter beside the window. Another thing was strange about the frame. It was the picture. It was different. He couldn't tell how so he looked closer. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. Instead of seeing the old picture with Kakashi smiling uncomfortably, him and Naruto staring daggers at eachother and Sakura grinning, he saw a picture with Kakashi smiling happily, Naruto grinning with his eyes closed and his left fist up in the air, Sakura's arms around both of their shoulders as she smiled widely with one eye closed and Sasuke smirking with his right arm wrapped tightly and securley around Sakura's waist. They were older. About the same age they were now. Amazed at what was going on he turned to look at the counter by the window and saw the other picture of the team when they were younger, the one that he was expecting, standing still, glowing under the moonlight._

What on Earth is going on? If this is another one of Karin's tricks, I swear to God I'm going to kil-

_His train of thoughts on how to slaughter Karin was rudely interupted as someone walked in and stood in the doorway. Sasuke looked up, ready to strangle whoever brought him in this situation, when he felt his heart nearly pop out of his chest._

_In front of him, Sakura stood in the doorway leaning on the doorframe in a blood red silk kimono with the tie undid the smallest bit with it lightly slipping of her left shoulder giving him a good view of her taunting, pale skin. Her left leg was opening the kimono further revealing her creamy thigh. The young kunoichi was looking at him hungrily with her full pink lips parted slightly and it made his insides melt away. He noticed her hair was long again as it fell around her shoulders, framing her face. She looked even more beautiful than the last time he saw her. Her hair matched the kimono perfectly and the flames were giving her usually bright, jade eyes a darker glow. The look suited her well. It took Sasuke every ounce of self-restrain he had to keep him from ravishing her on the spot. But, he kept reminding himslef that he had to ask her what in the world was going on __before__ slipping her out of her clothing entirely._

„_Sakura, what is going on?'' Sasuke barely managed to find his voice and it still came out hushed and a bit strained. He stood up to walk over to her._

„_Sasuke...'' When he heard her voice, he felt his legs nearly cut of from him. He never though she would have this much of an affect on him. Her voice was low, sexy, husky and they way she said his name erased any other thought from his mind. Sakura pushed herself from the doorframe to walk over to him. He stopped in dead tracks. Her steps were slow but confident and something told him he wasn't getting his way tonight. She stopped a few inches in front of him, leaving barely any space between him. For a moment he thought that maybe she didn't hear him until she spoke up once more._

„_Isn't this what you wanted for your birthday?'' Again, her voice made his brain slow down before he realized what she said._

„_Birhtday?'' He looked at the calendar hanging from the wall and it read 23rd July. What's more surprising was that the year was 1 year later than the time he thought he was in._

How did this happen?

_Sakura looked at him with her eyebrows raised and a playfull smile on her lips. „Yeah. I was gone for 5 minutes, don't tell me you already forgot what day it is?'' Sasuke heard the joking undertone in her voice that he knew very well. He looked at her and saw her eyes light up with some sort of realization._

This never meant good...

„_Or...'' The pinkette trailed of as she moved further towards him, closing the small space between them. She leaned in closer to his face, her fingertips trailing over his bare chest, leaving goosebumps and Sasuke felt his breath hitch. For a moment she was so close he was certain she was about to kiss him until she moved her lips to his ear. „...is it because of me?'' She whispered seductivly as she moved her hand across his chest and up to his face. She stroked his jaw with feather-like touches and Sasuke's mind went completely blank._

_**Could be.**_

_Sasuke heard his inner mock him at the weakness he felt in front of her, but as long as she was close to him like this, he didn't really mind._

_Sakura looked him in the eyes and smiled. He felt relieved because he thought he would never see her smile again. He thought that after he came back she would still be angry with him. After everything he had done to her, Naruto and Kakashi... He thought she would hate him._

_But, nonetheless, she was there. Looking him straight in the eye. Smiling. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve this kind of happiness._

_He didn't deserve __her__._

„_Sakura...'' He closed his eyes. He just couldn't look into those emerald eyes that sucked him in like a vortex from the very first day they met._

„_Yes, Sasuke?'' He felt her slide her arms around his neck as she pressed her forehead to his._

„_I... I don't deserve this.'' He started of slow before pushing her lightly away from him._

_Sakura looked at him in surprise, her eyes hurt._

„_W-what?'' Her voice wavered. „Sasuke, I thought you wanted this.''_

„_I do.'' The Uchiha heir reassured her. „You have no idea how much. I just...'' He fumbled for his words, not knowing how to put it so she could understand._

„_...I just don't deserve you.'' He looked at her eyes and it almost killed him to see that tears were gathering in the corners, threatening to fall. But, she didn't cry._

„_How can you say that?'' She may have not cried, but her voice was filled with hurt. „I thought we went over this when you came back.''_

_Sasuke looked at her questioningly, still not knowing how he got there in the frst place._

What happened in the last year?

„_Remember?'' Her eyes cast downward and he knew that that's what she usually does when she doesn't want him to see her crying. He would always see her tears fall to the ground, but this time no tears came._

„_It was last year, in November. You came back on the first day it snowed last winter.''_

_Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized that that was around the time he's curently in._

„_You had a strong intention to kill Danzo, and frankly, counting on the fact how he's treated our team and, well, everyone in the village, Naruto and I had no intentions on stopping you.''_

_Sasuke's felt a heavy weight fall from his chest, now that he knew that there was no reason to hurt them._

„_But, then another man showed up...'' Sasuke's ears perked up. „Kakashi-sensei called him Madara.''_

_The young Uchiha felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he heard the name._

He said he wouldn't interfere, what the hell does he want?!

„_You didn't seem to thrilled to see him, so we got ready to fight. But...'' Sakura stayed silent for a moment and the way she clenched his shoulders terrified Sasuke._

„_...But, what?'' He just couldn't stand the silence between them. Never before have they had an uncomfortable silence._

„_...You two exchanged looks and after that you turned and attacked us for no reason.'' Sakura's voice started shaking. „Naruto, to be exact.''_

_They both stayed silent as Sasuke's mind was racing, trying to figure out just why would he attack Naruto. That wasn't why he was there. He only came to kill Danzo, and according to Sakura he accomplished that._

Then why? Wait... She said Madara and I exchanged looks, right? What if he...?

„_That son of a bitch...'' Sasuke growled in rage as he hissed under his breath, but Sakura heard him._

„_Dou you know what happened? After you came back to normal you had no idea what gotten into you either. It was like you were possesed...''_

„_That's exactly what I was.'' His voice was laced with anger as his sharingan swirled wildly. „That bloody bastard used a genjustu on me to control my mind.'' He started pacing around the room as Sakura stood by the bedside watching him worriedly. „He knew I would __never__ attack you two on my own so he had to make me attack you.'' The young man came to a stop as looked like he was calculating something in his mind before he turned to Sakura and hastily walked over to her. „I didn't hurt you did I?''_

_The girl shook her head as he sighed in relief, but her next statement nearly made him drop to the ground._

„_You didn't hurt me, but you did attack me.''_

„_Sakura... I am so sorry, I-'' He didnt finish his sentence as she put her fingers over his lips._

„_I know you didn't mean to. Relax, you've been apologizing almost every day up until recently when I told you it was getting annoying.'' The kunoichi looked at him like a mother scolding her child._

_Sasuke didn't know what else he could say, so he just wrapped his arms around her and nested his head in the crook of her neck. Sakura returned his gesture by wrapping her arms around his torso._

„_The problem now is that he's not dead yet.'' Sakura whispered into his shoulder. „He's still out there, and we can't be sure when he will come back to hurt us again.''_

„_He's not dead?'' Sasuke repeated with dread._

„_Yes. We haven't heard from him since you came back.'' Sakura answered before a thought came into her mind. „How do you not remember all of this?''_

_..._

_..._

_..._

„_I don't know.'' _

_Sasuke lied. He knew it was all a dream, but it was easier for him to just go along with it. He just squeezed her harder. However, this time she didn't return his gesture. Instead, she pulled away. The man before her froze, not entirely understanding what she was doing. For a moment, he thought something was wrong. What if he said something wrong? What if she had figured it out? But, it didn't matter._

_Because in the next moment every thought was erased from his mind as she pulled him towards her, successfuly closing any room between them and pressing her lips to his._

**_I wish that I could believe,_**


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke's eyes snapped open at chirps of the birds nearby. His body shot forward as he was still sitting on that tree branch when images from his dream came back to mind.

„_You two exchanged looks and after that you attacked us for no reason. Naruto, to be exact.'' _

Sakura's words echoed in his mind as he tried to figure out how on Earth could that 100 year old asshole come up with a genjutsu strong enough to take control of his brain _and_ body.

_I have to find out what his plan is. But, she did say that I went insane after we locked eyes._

Sasuke's eyes widened as realization struck him.

_He used a dojutsu on me? Well, he must have, there's no other explanation._

„Oi! Sasuke!'' The said man looked down to see Suigetsu and Karin standing at the trunk of the tree and Juugo packing up their tents.

„You slept in pretty good, my friend.'' Suigetsu teased. „I can't remember the last time I've seen you sleep so well.'' The nin said honestly. The young Uchiha didn't think Suigetsu was the kind of person to catch on what he was dreaming of.

Unfortunately for him, today Suigetsu was feeling very observant.

„Could it be because you dreamed of something... _interesting_?'' Suigetsu drawled the last word off his tounge and considering Sasuke's slight, but still visible blush, he knew he was right. _Bullseye._ The young man smirked, as he decided he was going to tease his friend, just a little bit.

„Ahhh... So you did dream of something interesting?'' The young man could feel his imagination going wild as he decided to dig a little further. „Or did you dream of _someone_ interesting?'' He conitnued, winking up at the man standing up from the branch. Dear Suigetsu had to contain his laughter and let out only a snicker as he saw his comrade stumble and almost fall at his last statement.

The young man shifted his eyes to their only female teammate and it was more than obvious that she was boiling with rage directed not only at the young woman from Sasuke's dreams, but at Suigetsu himself, for pointing out that fact. Apparently, she would've been happier if she just _pretended_ like she didn't know anything about the young pink-haired med-nin that has been occupying the Uchiha heir's thoughts _and_ dreams for the past few months. The redhead obviously realized that she could never level up to Sasuke's former teammate because Sakura Haruno knew him better than anyone in their small group, and from the information Karin gathered in that small village they were staying at a couple of days ago she was stronger and smarter than they thought.

Actually, while Sasuke was out looking for the girl and the rest of them were back at the hotel, it was apparent that Karin knew from the start that the girl the towns people were talking about was Sasuke's old friend, she was just good at hiding it. But, Suigetsu saw through her. She was dying inside, because the small chance of being with the young Uchiha was now completely gone. And now, they were going back to his home village and the chances of encountering Sasuke's old teammates were through the roof. Suigetsu was wondering if Karin was going to challenge Sakura to a fight when they finally meet. His smirk grew even wider when he saw Sasuke turn even redder and Karin fume with jealousy because she noticed too.

_This morning is __**FANTASTIC**__!_

„Sh-shut up, Suigetsu...'' Sasuke barely even spoke up and at this the said man just had to laugh out loud.

Sasuke looked down at the man rolling on the ground, clenching his stomach as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

„D-d-d-du-dude...''

_Seems like he can't even form a sentence right. Hmph! No surprise. It's not like he could do that much before._

Karin thougt bitterly as she watched Suigetsu roll to his side. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. Who was she kidding? Even she knew that she was only distracting herself with The Idiot just so she doesn't think about just how right he was.

Sasuke spent more and more time thinking about this Sakura, and now he was _dreaming_ about her? This was awful. She couldn't think of anything to do. She coulnd't say that Suigetsu was exaggerating, beacuse even she didn't believe that. She couldn't hit him because she felt so drained she couldn't even muster up the strength to do that. Right now, she couldn't do anything.

Sasuke scowled at the still laughing nin on the ground when he noticed Karin starting to walk away from them. It seemed that Suigetsu noticed too, because he stopped laughing.

„What's wrong with her?'' He feigned to ask.

He knew what was wrong with her. Sad part is, they both knew. But there was nothing either of them could do. Suigetsu wasn't exactly known on cheering up people he didn't like, nor did he want to be. This was her problem, she can fix it herself. And Sasuke... Well, he knew there was nothing he could do. Because there was nothing truthful he could tell her that would lighten her mood, and even if it did, it would only give her false hope. So, he decided to stay out of it.

„Suigetsu, shut up.'' Sasuke finally regained his composure. „My life is none of your business.'' He said as he jumped down on the ground. „Pack up, we're leaving.''

„Eh? You're gonna attack in the middle of the day? I thought your plan was to attack at night.''

„Change of plans.''

Team Taka hid in the shadows of buildings in Hidden Leaf. Not many people were on the streets. It was still eraly in the morning (well, not for them), so a lot of civilians were still asleep. Most of the people they saw were shinobi. Chunins, Jounins, even some ROOT members. Sasuke was surprised they haven't spotted his team yet. From what he's heard, ROOT members were supposed to be one of the best forces of Konoha.

The young man looked over at his teammates and gave them the signal to move. They all immediately moved at a high speed that no one else noticed. They were near the Hokage tower when Sasuke activated his sharingan and prepared his katana.

He will finish this before anyone even notices they were there.

* * *

„But, Sakura-chan, you promised to train with me and Sai today, dattebayo!'' The blond jinchuuriki whined at his best friend as they sat at Ichiraku because Naruto insisted that they have breakfast together. And by breakfast, it always meant ramen (at least with Naruto).

„I'm sorry, Naruto, but I have a lot of work to do at the hospital because of our lack of staff. Plus, I promised Shizune I'd go and check on Tsunade-shisou later today. Can't we train tomorrow?'' The pink haired medic asked her fox friend who was already pouting.

„Nooooooo...'' Naruto gave her one of his high pitched whines that always made her ears hurt. No matter how much she loved the kid, she just could not deal with his whines. „We have to go nooooooww!''

„Naruto, please, you're making my ears hurt.'' The girl was surprised at her own self-restrain, considering she hasn't punched him once since they met up at the bridge they usually did, even though he's been whining the entire morning.

„Hmph!'' The said boy pouted like a child that wasn't allowed to go to the amusement park. "You're no fair, Sakura-chan. You promised, dattebayo!'' Naruto looked to her like he was about to cry, and she found it hilarious. But, she would have to keep it in, that is unless she actually _wanted_ him to cry.

„I know Naruto, and I'm sorry, but when I promised this to you, I didn't realize how busy I was going to be...'' The young kunoichi would've continued apologizing, but a flash caught her eye as she turned around to search for the source. Suddenly, she felt three strong chakra signatures and one of them was incredibly familiar, but she couldn't dechiper who it was.

„You know, Sakura-chan, you shouldn't make promises if you're not sure if you're going to keep them.'' Naruto ''lectured'' her with his mouth full of noodles. His eyes were closed as he tried to look serious, like Kakashi-sensei when he lectured them when they were younger, but failed miserably, courtesy of the noodles falling out of his mouth.

„You hear me? Sakura-chan?'' He turned to look at the girl beside him before he yelled out. „AH! You're not even listening to me!'' The whisker-faced boy pointed an accussing finger at her as he stood up from his chair.

This time, Sakura had to punch him.

„Be quiet, baka. I'm trying to concentrate.'' The medic said in hushed voice as she focused on the chakra signatures pass them and head for the Hokage tower. There was four of them, that she was sure of.

Sakura hurriedly put the money for her meal on the counter and rushed out of the stand.

„HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?'' She heard Naruto yell out to her beofre hearing fastened footsteps nearing her. She didn't look at him just tried to explain what she felt.

„Listen, Naruto, someone's in the village. There's four of them and they're heading fast for the Hokage tower. And no, they're not Konoha shinobi, there's a slight difference in these chakras. It might be someone trying ot harm Danzo-sama, and as much as we don't like him, he's still the Hokage, so if somehting happens, we can inform the ROOT Black Ops to go and save him.'' Sakura explained fast as her pace quickened and soon enough they were both rushing towards the tower.

„Alright, but just so we're clear I'm not saving him.'' Naruto said, not that thrilled about the thought of saving the old man.

„Neither am I. He tried to kill my mentor.'' His friend shot him a look. „But, we_ will_ inform the ANBU if something's up.''

„Fine...''

* * *

Sasuke, Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo entered the Hokage tower without any problem. The four guards at the entrance were all sleepy, so knocking them out was easy. They rushed up the stairs and through the halls without a sound. Sasuke knew they were reaching the main office that Danzo was in. However, they heard a loud crash and right ahead of them was a gapin hole in the wall coming from outside. There was dust evrywhere so they couldn't see who it was.

_What the hell is it now?! _The young Uchiha was angered that someone dared interupt his mission.

The air was clearing slowly and they could see the outlines of two people standing in front of them.

When everything settled down and they could see who got in their way, Sasuke's eyes widened in shock.

...

...

„What are you doing here?''

* * *

Naruto and Sakura stayed in the cloud of dust as they saw the outlines of their enemies, the picture becoming clearer slowly.

...

...

„What the hell?'' Naruto muttered.''

* * *

Sasuke's eyes turned crimson as rage filled his body.

The rest of his team just watched between the two people in front of them and their teammate.

„I can't believe this...'' The young man hissed under his breath.

* * *

Naruto was starting to turn into Kyuubi slowly as his anger fired up.

Sakura looked at the four shinobi in front of them fiercely, but still glanced at Naruto with worry in her jade eyes.

„What the fuck are you doing in our village?'' Naruto asked, his voice laced with venom.

* * *

Sasuke's sharingan swirled out of control.

* * *

The Kyuubi's red chakra circled around Naruto, pouring out of him visibly.

* * *

_I've been waiting for this for a long time... _The Uchiha smirked at thought.

* * *

_He's gonna get what he deserves for coming here... _Naruto grinned maliciously.

„Now...''

* * *

„...Let's begin.''

„Before we do...'' Sasuke interupted his oponent.

„... I just have one question.''

* * *

Naruto looked at his enemy with narrowed eyes.

* * *

„What the fuck do you think you're doing...'' Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration.

...

...

...

„... Madara?''


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto and Sakura stood in front of a group of four shinobis, all of them wearing Akatsuki cloaks...

...

...

...

...except one.

* * *

Sasuke, Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo stood in the middle of the hallway facing Madara Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.

Madara looked at them with his sharingan eye through the hole on his orange mask, smirking all the while.

Kisame was grining at them, his intentions clear as day.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura both took their battling stances as they took in the sight of their opponents.

The one on the far right was that strange guy with two personalities, Zetsu.

What frightened them was the fact of the other two on the left.

Sakura grimanced as she looked into the sharingan.

_They're supposed to be dead... How can this be?_

She remembered what happened as they were running towards the tower just a few moments ago.

_Naruto and Sakura rushed through the village, nearing the tower. In a split second, Sakura felt another chakra going for the tower as well. This time it was different from before._

„_Naruto.'' She spoke out to him quietly._

„_Hm? Yeah, Sakura-chan?'' He looked back at her and notice her worried gaze._

„_There are other chakras heading for the tower.'' She kept her voice low._

_Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what she was aiming for._

„_How many?''_

„_Including the four from before...''_

_..._

_..._

_..._

„_... Ten.''_

„_What?!'' Naruto hissed out._

„_But, it seems two of them are heading in the direction of the first four. And the other four are heading the other way.''_

_..._

„_Fine, we'll follow them then.''_

The young med-nin stood in the middle of the hallway beside her teammate looking at the faces of former Akatsuki members who were supposedly dead.

On the left were standing Itachi Uchiha and Deidara Iwa.

But, what struck him as odd was the person in the middle with a hood over his head. The one person they haven't seen in years.

„What's the matter, Naruto?'' The person with the hood spoke. „Can't even remember an old friend?'' He chuckled as he slipped the hood down and revealed his face.

Naruto's eyes narrowed while Sakura's widened in shock.

„Kabuto...'' They both hissed under their breaths as they watched the young man with glasses and eyes the same as the man's who took their friend away from them so many years ago.

„You look just like that bastard Orochimaru...'' Naruto growled, preparing to attack.

* * *

Suigetsu raised his hand to hold the hilt of his sword, preparing to lunge at Kisame.

Kisame was, obviously, thinking something along the same lines because his hand was gripping tightly around Samehada. He was grining viciously at Suigetsu, probably thinking of different ways to kill him.

Suigetsu smirked.

_This is gonna be an interesting fight._

Juugo had already activated his curse seal and was slowly transforming.

Karin just stepped aside, letting them fight without disturbances.

Sasuke's hand was resting on his katana while he was watching Madara's moves carefully.

Madara raised an eyebrow at the scene before him.

„What's this?'' He asked incredulously. „Sasuke, we're all on the same side. There's no need to fight while the enemy is just at the end of the hall.'' He pointed to the office where Danzo was doing his paperwork.

„Yes, there is.'' Sasuke answered as he pulled out his katana.

„Excuse me?'' Madara still couldn't believe what was happening. „What are you aiming at?''

„I'm saying that I won't let you use a genjutsu to take control over me.'' Sasuke said calmly and evenly.

„What?!'' Karin shrieked out.

„WHAT'D YOU SAY?!'' Suigetsu yelled out as if he was on the other side of the hall, not right there beside him.

Madara looked him in surprise, at first, before smirking.

„Well done, kid. So... How did you figure it out?''

Sasuke smirked, a strange light none of them had seen before lighted his eyes.

...

„An old friend told me.''

* * *

„There's no need to be violent, Naruto-kun.'' Kabuto said calmly, as if nothing was happening.

„Oh, but I'm pretty sure there is.'' Naruto growled out, getting ready to attack.

However, just when he was ready to jump, Kabuto's next sentence stopped him in dead tracks.

„If I were you, I wouldn't waste all of my chakra on me, when your old friend is just down the hall.''

_What...?_

„What are you talking about, Kabuto?'' Sakura looked at him suspiciously.

„Oh, you shouldn't be suspicious of me, Sakura-chan.'' The grey haired man turned towards her.

„You should worry more about the fact that Sasuke-kun is near Danzo-sama's office.''

The two teens paled instantly, Naruto frozen on the spot, while Sakura quickly turned and ran in their direction.

Kabuto chuckled at the scene unraveling before him.

„You know, you should follow her, Naruto-kun.''

...

...

„Not a chance.'' The blond answered full of spite.

There was no way he was leaving these guys before back-up came.

Sakura would just have to hold on untill he reached them.

Kabuto smirked behind his collar.

_Perfect... Everything's going according to plan._

* * *

„Well then...'' Madara began as he walked over to them.

„... Since you're obviously introduced to the plan,'' He got near Sasuke as he slang one arm around his shoulders. „Let's begin, shall we?''

...

...

...

„I'm not going to follow your plan. I have my own.''

Madara looked at him quizzicaly.

„Oh? And what plan would that be exactly?''

The young Uchiha smirked as he pushed Madara's hand of his shoulder.

„None of your business.''

...

...

...

„Why you little-''

...

„SASUKE!''

The said boy's eyes widened as he turned around quickly to the source of the voice.

_It can't be..._

Oh, but it was.

The young kunoichi stood a few feet behind him panting slightly, looking him staright in the eye.

The rest of Team Taka figured out who she was just by the look on Sasuke's face. And soon enough, they got their confirmation.

„Sakura...''

* * *

„God, this is soooo boring!'' A young kunoichi with brown hair and buns whined as she sat with her friends and their senseis.

A young brunette man sitting next to her sighed. „Don't whine, Ten Ten. This is bad for all of us.''

„Neji's right. We haven't had any missions in a while. If we don't get some action soon, I'm gonna lose it.'' Called out a teen with red triangles on his face while he scrached his white furred dog behind his ear.

„You're not the only one, Kiba.'' Another kunoichi with long blonde hair said, sitting across from said boy with her arms crossed over her chest. „I'm pretty sure the only one of us who's not affected at all by this lack of missions is our dear lazy ass over there.'' Her eyes shifted in the direction of the teen sitting a few feet away from her.

„You got a point there, Ino.'' A chubby young man agreed as he looked over to the male beside him. „You're loving this time off aren't you, Shikamaru?''

„Che. At least we're not getting any stupid missions. You guys should be grateful, instead of whining all day long.'' The said male answered, his voice annoyed.

„Well, something tells me we won't be bored any longer.'' Said one of their senseis.

„What do you mean, Gai-sensei?'' A young male, very similar to his sensei, questioned.

The said man cocked his head in the direction of three ANBU coming their way.

„We have a problem.'' One of them started as they landed in front of the group.

„What is it?'' Kakashi Hatake looked at them, concerned.

„There are ten shinobi who infiltrated the Hokage tower. It has come to our attention that they're there to assasinate the Hokage.''

„Have you sent ROOT members to protect Danzo-sama untill we get there?''

„Actually, there were two shinobi in the building who we got the intell about the intruders from. They'll stall them untill you get there.'' Another ANBU answered as they got ready to leave.

„Wait a mintute!'' They heard the stern voice of Neji Hyuuga call out to them.

„Who's stalling them?''

„Two of your friends. Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki.'' And with that they were gone.

And so was the group previously complaining about lack of good missions.

* * *

„Well... Isn't this touching?'' Came Madara's mocking voice from behind Sasuke.

„A little team reunion. How sweet. Although, isn't someone missing?''

„Don't think so little of Naruto. He'll be here any second. He's just getting rid of the remains of _your _lackeys.'' Sakura gritted through her teeth, her eyes never leaving Sasuke's.

„Oh? And by lackeys, I'm guessing you mean Kabuto?''

The rest of Team Taka looked incredulously at Madara. Sasuke was to busy with his own thoughts to even pay attention to them.

_She's here..._

„Why are you here?'' The young medic spoke up to him, her voice surprisingly cold.

Sasuke nearly flinched at that. He didn't think she would be this mad.

„I'm here to settle my debts with the three council members.'' He answered flatly.

„I see.'' She finally broke their staring contest. „We heard about what hapenned. And frankly you have every right to do that. Naruto and I won't stop you.'' He felt a giant weight fall of his chest as she said those words.

„Although... The ROOT members will probably protect Danzo-sama.''

„Don't worry we can handle them.'' Sakura looked up at the young man speaking to her. He had white hair, amethyst like eyes and he was carrying sword that looked like it was heavier than himself. He gave her a toothy grin and instantly reminded her of Naruto.

She looked at the rest of Sasuke's team. There was another young man with orange hair and eyes and he was very tall. Taller than Sasuke for that matter.

And then her eyes shifted and locked with a pair of ruby, furious eyes. The female haid long red hair, a pair of glasses and red eyes. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was looking at Sakura as if she was her worst enemy. Her ruby eyes shifted to the man who still hasn't stopped looking at her and saw the small flash of pain cross her face. It went unnoticed by the others, but Sakura saw it. And she immediately knew why she was looking at her with such resentment.

_I wonder if she's just another fan girl, or does she actually have feelings for Sasuke?_

It didn't matter. It was none of her business. Sasuke was no longer a part of her life.

She smiled weakly at her attempt to stay emotionless.

_Who are you kidding, girl?_

**_That there's a day you'll come back to me._**

Sasuke continued looking at her intensely. She got taller. She grew her hair long. Her face no longer held that childish look, but was replaced by a look of maturity. Her eyes were a bit darker green, and her hair started getting that reddish color, instead of the cotton candy pink. It was still pink, just darker. _She grew up._

Though there was one thing that was still bothering him. If the Sakura he knew, the one who smiled all the time, with shiny emerald orbs, and bright pink hair, was left behind... What if he was just a part of her past now as well? What if she wanted nothing to do with him anymore? What if she had forgotten him completely?

...

_What if she found someone else?_

As the horrible thought got stuck in his head, his mind started conjuring up old memories.


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke stood in the hallway, waiting for Kakashi to come back from the bathroom.

_Uhhh... Hurry the hell up, Kakashi. I'm already late enoguh._

He heard the crowd cheer as Shikamaru's battle ended.

_I can't believe that lazy ass gave up the fight. He had her! Although, it's not __that__ surprising. I was just waiting to see how far he was going to go until he forfeits. Tch. That lazy bum._

His thoughts were cut short as he heard footsteps nearing him. He turned his head the slightest and caught a glimpse of his female teammate running towards him.

„Sakura?''

„Hey. Why aren't you out there yet? They're not giving you much time. You've got five more minutes.'' She kept her voice low.

„Yeah, I heard.'' Sasuke grunted in annoyance. „It's Kakashi's fault. I don't know what's taking him so long.''

„Well, that sounds like him...'' The girl scrached the back of her head.

„Why are you here anyway?''

„Oh, right! I came to wish you luck for the fight.''

„I'll be fine. I've been training the entire month.'' He said as he closed his eyes.

„I know. I just wanted to give you something.'' She said in a sweet voice she used rarely on him. He slowly opened his eyes as she closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. His face has never been redder.

„Sak-'' But all protest were cut short as she pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened the slightest before he smirked against her lips and snaked his arms around her waist pulling her even closer.

Kakashi was walking around the corner, still focused on his book. But, for some reason, he decided to look up for the slightest moment. He smiled behind his mask, turned around and walked back around the corner. He leaned against the wall as he decided to give them some privacy. They had time.

Sasuke's tongue darted across the crack between her lips, asking for entrance. She complied quickly and he decided to_ explore_ a little bit. Sakura shot one of her hands to his raven locks and pulled slightly as his teeth bit into her full lower lip. That, unfortunately for her, only served as adding more fuel to the fire as Sasuke growled into her mouth and pressed her tighter to his chest. A small moan escaped the back of her throat as one of his hands started massaging their way up her spine. A smug smirk tugged the corners of his lips at the reaction she was giving him.

Sakura's mind was almost completely blank except for one thought in the back of her mind.

_This turned out to be __much__ more than just a simple 'good luck for the fight' kiss._

After they both felt like they were out of breath, their lips parted, although their arms were still around each other, holding them in place.

Sakura was breathing a little heavier, but Sasuke seemed completely fine.

_You have got to be kidding me?! After all of that, I'm barely breathing, while his breath didn't even hitch._

Oh, but how wrong she was.

This was affecting Sasuke much more than he let it show.

His mind was completely blank and if he wasn't controlling himself, his face would be redder then Sakura's dress.

To Sasuke's dismay, his little _Inner self_ decided to take this opportunity of his mind going blank and take over, even if it's just for a little while.

Sasuke's arms were still holding Sakura to his chest as he bent down to whisper in her ear.

„If I got this kind of _encouragement_ before my every fight, I'm sure I would've made Chunin a long time ago.'' Sasuke said huskily while a small smirk played on his lips.

Sakura felt her face heat up as she tried to find her voice. „Yes, well... Uh... You should probably hurry, you don't have much time left.'' She tried to pull away from him, only to be pressed against his chest once more.

„Alright. But only if you promise me one thing...'' The young kunoichi didn't like the sound of his voice.

„... We have to celebrate after I win this match and become Chunin.'' His voice was laced with something she never heard on him before and couldn't quite decipher.

„Well, yeah, of course. You, me, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are all going out to celebrate after the exams are over.'' She said, oblivious to what he really meant.

Sasuke chuckled as he pressed his forehead to hers and looked her straight in the eyes. His eyes were different. Usually he would look at her with amusement or plainly like he looked at everyone else. But this time his eyes seemed darker and he had a look she never saw on him before.

„That's not what I meant.''

„Oh? And what did you mean, exactly?''

„Well, Team 7 going out to celebrate goes without saying...''

He lightly nuzzled his nose over hers.

„What I meant was you and me _celebrating_ _afterwards_.'' He streched the last two word as he drawled his lips over her cheek.

Sakura knew he didn't mean anything serious (or at least she hoped he didn't), but she just couldn't keep her mind from going to that restricted zone that filled her thoughts with R-rated images. Just the thought of the two of them in Sasuke's apartment with candles lighting up the place and them in his bedroom... Her face unwillingly turned ten shades of red, which, of course, gained her a playful smirk from the Uchiha.

„I'm glad we're on the same page then.''

She couldn't take it anymore. She snapped.

„SASUKE!'' She screamed out at him as she punched his shoulder.

Naturally, this only served to amuse him even further as he chuckled at her aggressiveness. She punched him a few more times before he caught her wrists and pulled her closer.

...

„Do we have a deal?''

Sakura turned her still blushing face away from him as she muttered.

„Fine.''

Finally, he was satisfied with her answer as he let her go with a small peck at the corner of her lips.

„Hn.''

„But, remember that only stands if you win this fight.'' She said to him as she started walking away and he leaned back against the wall.

„Oh please.'' He said teasingly. „You and I both know I'm going to win this fight. So _when_ I win,'' He added cockily. „I'm expecting a _proper_ congratulations from you.''

„Don't_ make_ me hit you again.'' Sakura warned him.

„Go ahead, _Sa-ku-ra_.'' He slipped her name off of his tongue like a sweet pleasure.

„Don't push it.'' She huffed still blushing, but by now a small smile was gracing her lips.

Sasuke returned it with his own half-smile (his softer version of the smirk).

The pink haired kunoichi rushed over to the bleachers and the young Uchiha heir watched her back disappear.

„You're quite the pervy devil, aren't you?''

Sasuke jumped at the voice of the man standing behind him.

He scowled at Kakashi who was smiling at him brightly behind his mask.

„You're more and more like me every day.''

„Tch.'' Sasuke grunted as he slightly blushed at his previous statement. „I'm not perverted, Kakashi.''

„Oh, really? And what would you call that little_ proposal_ you made with your female teammate just a few moments ago?'' Kakashi asked slyly.

Now he was definetly blushing.

„How much did you hear?''

„Well...'' The silver haired Jonin put a finger to his chin. „At first I didn't hear anything, so I decided to give you a little privacy. Frankly, I didn't know you could hold your breath that long.''

„...''

„But, after you started talking, I was half tempted to check if that really was you.''

„Fine. So I went a little overboard. In my defense, I didn't think she would do something like this. I just wasn't sure if this was ever going to happen again so I... thought I'd better use the opportunity while I still had one.'' The boy admitted as he looked at the ground with his hands shoved deep in his pockets while he kicked some dirt with his foot like a child would when it was scolded by its' parents.

„Well, it might have sounded harmless to you, but to anyone else listening...''

„I know what's going through your head Kakashi, no need to explain it. Important thing is that she knew what I meant.'' The young male defended himself.

„Alright, if you're sure.'' His teacher raised his hands up in defense.

„Just one piece of advice...''

Sasuke pretneded like he wasn't listening but Kakashi knew that he was paying attention.

„Use that moment alone with her wisely when it comes. Don't screw it up.''

...

„I'll remember that.''

**_But still I have to say,_**

* * *

„We won't get in your way, but...'' Sakura trailed off for a moment.

...

Sasuke waited patiently for her to continue.

...

Sigh.

...

„You do realize that if you go through with this and get caught afterwards, you will be put up for trial.''

„I know that.''

...

Narrowed eyes.

„And you're fine with that?''

„Hn.''

„Sasuke, you're not alone in this. Are you actually willing to sacrifice the three of them for this, because you know they'll be trialed too, as your accomplices.''

...

He knew what she had meant.

...

And he knew she was right.

...

„If you three want to leave, this would be the right time to do it.'' Sasuke's calm voice spoke to his teammates.

Three pairs of eyes widened in surprise. Just one small conversation with this girl, and Sasuke Uchiha completely changed his actions and his composure. Did she really have _that_ much of an affect on him?

Karin's eyes narrowed.

_Like hell am I going to give Sasuke-kun up to you, bitch._

„No way.''

Sakura averted her eyes to the female on Sasuke's team. She walked over to Sasuke and stood by his side—a little closer than Sasuke found comfortable, obviously.

„We were by Sasuke's side all this time, we're not leaving now.''

Sakura raised her eyebrows in surprise before lightly smiling.

_I'm sensing some unneeded jealousy from her side._

„Woah, Karin. Wait just a minute.'' The white haired male raised his hands up in defense. „You can speak for yourself. Juugo and I have had enough of prisons and holding facilities for one lifetime.''

„Hmph!'' The kunoichi huffed with her nose high and her arms crossed over her chest. „You're such a coward, Suigetsu. You mean to tell me you came all the way her to give up now?''

Sakura observed her behavior closely. It reminded her of someone.

_She's just like me when I was younger. __Much__ younger. Stuck up, snobby, spoiled, treating her friends like dirt..._

„You're one to talk!'' Suigetsu defended as he pointed an accusation finger at the redhead. „You've never been to prison. You were just a _guard_ in one. You have no idea what it's like to be in a holding cell.''

_... And doesn't care much for anyone else._

„Enough you two.'' Came Sasuke's stern voice. „Suigetsu, Juugo, you two can leave if you want to. I'm not forcing you to stay.''

„Hold up, hold up! We didn't say we don't want to stay, we do, we just don't want to go back to prison.''

„I said '_if_ you get caught'.'' Sakura finally spoke up and pointed out her exact words, silently taunting her old best friend. She knew he couldn't resist a challenge.

And she was right.

Sasuke's eyes flashed with something that combined amusement and excitement. A small smirk played on his lips as he raised one eyebrow at the girl in front of him, much like he used to when they were younger.

„Is that a challenge?''

_Bingo._

Sakura hid her own smirk as she shrugged. „'Is if you want it to be.''

Sasuke's smirk grew as they exchanged one last look before they ran off in different directions.

Sasuke ran pass Madara and Kisame, heading towards the Main Office, with Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo right behind him.

Sakura ran the opposite way, towards the ANBU and ROOT squads.

Usually, they would've made it a bet.

But, they both knew what the other meant.

If Sakura wins and Sasuke gets caught—he stays in Konoha.

But, if Sasuke wins...

...

... he leaves...

...

... and brings Sakura with him.

**_I would do it all again._**


	9. Chapter 9

**CRASH!**

Danzo looked up from the paperwork in front of him to see Sasuke Uchiha slicing the door to his office into pieces. Behind him were three more people who he didn't recognize.

„Uchiha Sasuke... How dare you show your face in my village after everything you've done?'' The old man slowly stood from his chair, steadying himself on the edge of the desk, his voice calm, with no signs of worry or panic.

„Tch.'' Sasuke grunted before turning his gaze crimson. „_You_ have no right to call this village _yours_.'' Said young man hissed dangerously through his clenched teeth.

„Oh? And what makes you think you know anything about Konoha?'' Danzo raised his hands above his head in a dramatic matter.

„I know that you're not... _suited_ to run this village.''

„Really?'' The man's questioning gaze rested on the Uchiha's eyes. „Please, elaborate.''

„You're too old. You're time has passed.''

Pause.

Silence.

Laughter.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the man in front of him as the old man laughed.

„You think I'm old? I'm presuming that you also think because I'm old that you could beat me, correct?'' Danzo questioned as his laughter faded.

Smirk.

„I don't think...

...

... I _know_.''

Another moment of silence.

And once again laughter.

The young Uchiha's eyes were, at this point, just two dangerous slits.

„I'm getting impatient with you underestimating me. You shouldn't do that.'' Sasuke warned, but Danzo didn't seem to listen to him because he merely said with spite.

„Tell me child... How do you plan on defeating me, when the man who you looked up to, your _dear brother_, hadn't even stood up to me, _let alone_ fought me?''

And with that, Danzo was thrown out the window and fell on the street below the tower, with Sasuke jumping after him, pointing his katana straight at his face, the curse mark slowly growing and taking over his body.

...

„I'll make this quick. And unless you want it to hurt endlessly...''

He pressed the katana at the man's neck as he hovered above him.

„...You will never speak of my brother like that again.''

* * *

Sakura ran as fast as she could towards the ANBU and ROOT squads. She unconsciously put more chakra to her feet to quicken her pace.

She was not going to lose this bet.

**_Just want you to know._**

* * *

Sakura was running towards the training grounds, slightly panting. She had to meet Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei for a mission they were doing later that day. It crossed her mind a few times that she didn't have to hurry that much, Kakashi will be late anyway.

_But, I hate being late._

_**So? Give yourself a break, it's not like anything important is gonna happen until you get there.**_

_..._

_**Unless, of course, Naruto's late—and let's face it, he's always late—and Ino-pig shows up and asks Sasuke on a date, he agrees, they leave and you're left all alone.**_

_Geez... Thanks for the pick-me-up, I feel much better._

_**Hey, I'm just being realistic.**_

_Oh please. Like saying Sasuke and Ino-pig going out on a date is realistic._

_**It could be. You don't know what type of girls he likes. He could have a soft spot for dumb blondes who fangirl over him all the time.**_

_Ino is __not__ Sasuke's type._

_**How would you know?**_

_I just do, OK?!_

_**Woah... Relax girl. I didn't know you were **__**that**__** jealous.**_

_I am __not__ jealous._

_**Riiiiiiight...**_

_I am not!_

_**Hey. All I'm sayin' is that whenever you see Sasuke talking to another girl, your face turns green. I mean, that's completely understandable. You knew him first and for the longest time you were the only girl he hung out with. It's perfectly natural for you to freak out when another girl tries to take what's yours.**_

_I AM NOT JEAL—Wait, what? 'What's mine'? Sasuke is not my property. Besides, it's not like I'm his girlfriend or anything._

_**Maybe. But, you're the closest thing he ever had to a girlfriend. And, let's face it, it's not like THE Sasuke Uchiha is going to look at another girl, considering you're the only one who **__**never**__** fangirled over him. Well... Not on the outside at the very least.**_

_Dammit! Will you knock it off?! I don't like Sasuke._

_**You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. One day you might actually convince yourself it's true.**_

_UGH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_

Sakura blinked and shook her head at her own stupidity. She was already at the training fields.

She was right. Kakashi wasn't there yet, Naruto was late too, and Sasuke was sitting against a tree with his eyes closed.

_Good. Everything's normal._

The young pinkette smiled to herself and walked over to the boy.

„'Morning, Sasuke.''

The said boy looked up after hearing her cheerful voice to see her smiling brightly at him.

„Good morning.'' He took a moment to observe her features. She seemed to be in a good mood.

„Well, you seem happy today. Something happened?''

„Nothin' much.'' The girl answered with a sly smile plastered on her face as she sat next to him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, giving her the 'what's-on-your-mind' look.

„Nothing!'' The girl defended, but her smile gave her away as it grew even more.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. _Since when does she hide things from me?_

„Fine, if you don't want to tell me-''

„No, no, no! It's not that. It's just that I'm happy to see everything's normal.''

The young Uchiha looked at her incredulously.

...

„_What?_''

Sakura blinked before laughing lightly.

„Nothing, don't mind me.''

Sasuke watched her intently, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, it looked like she didn't even notice him staring at her.

„SAKURA-CHAAANN!''

Both of them looked toward Naruto who was trying to straighten out his clothes while running. It was obvious that the whisker-faced boy just woke up.

„Loser.'' The raven haired boy muttered more to himself than to anyone else.

„I don't know, Sasuke. I mean, he's gotten stronger over the past few months.'' Sakura commented crossing her arms and smiling, her eyes locked in Naruto's direction.

This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by the young Uchiha.

Nor did he find it amusing.

„Oh, please. I could still beat the hell out of him without breaking a sweat.'' Sasuke closed his eyes, his voice _very_ smug as a small smirk started forming on his handsome face.

Sakura snorted.

Sasuke glared.

„What?'' Said boy's eyes narrowed dangerously. „You think _Naruto_ could beat _me_?'' He scoffed. „Psh. Ridiculous.''

Sakura finally turned her gaze toward him, a coy smile gracing her lips.

„You wanna bet on that?''

Sasuke's eyebrows lifted lightly, before a cocky smirk made its way on his lips.

„Tell me your conditions.''

The pinkette lifted a finger to her chin and started to think. Not long after, her eyes lit up.

„If Naruto beats you...'' She trailed off.

Onyx eyes focused on her, waiting for her to continue.

...

She grinned teasingly.

„...You have to ask out the first _fan girl_ we come across after we leave the training grounds.''

Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second before his face was stoic and emotionless again.

„Hn.'' Agreement.

_That was easy._

„But...'' He leaned back into the tree trunk, amusement obvious in his eyes.

_Or not._

„...When _I_ win—''

„So sure?'' She looked at him teasingly.

„—positive—you have to...''

...

Sakura waited.

...

He smirked lightly.

„...You have to pretend to be my girlfriend for a week.''

„WHAT?!''

His smirk grew wider.

„You deaf?'' He asked teasingly before his voice dropped to a soft purr. „I said... you have to be my girl for a week.''

„Oh, I heard you the first time!'' She punched his shoulder as she stood up, blushing prettily.

_Wider._

„So, do you agree or not?''

She hesitated, not daring to look at him.

...

„Just tell me why.'' She finally asked her voice quiet.

...

...

The silence was _killing_ her.

...

...

„Because if those same fan girls see me with someone else, there's a high chance for them to leave me alone for a while.''

Her heart sank.

That was _not_ what she wanted to hear.

But she agreed anyway.

„Alright. Deal.''

They extended hands and shook them as Naruto finally walked merrily over to them.

„Morning Sakura-chan.'' He grinned widely before turning to Sasuke. His smile faltered. „Sasuke-teme.''

„Dobe.''

The two boys fell into and all-out stare contest.

Sakura noticed the tension rising and tried desperately to lighten the mood.

„Eh, Naruto.'' He turned at the sound of her voice and smiled brightly again. „Sasuke had something he wanted to ask you.''

The blond blinked in confusion before looking at the charcoal haired boy. „Teme?''

„Hn. I want to spar.''

Blink.

He was serious.

This statement only left the knucklehead ninja even more dumbfounded.

...

„EH?!'' Naruto shrieked out, his voice high-pitched.

This earned him a light smack on the head from a very temperamental kunoichi.

„Naruto! Don't scream so loud, damn it! My ears feel like they're bleeding.'' Sakura yelled out, her face turning into a scowl.

„Waa! Sorry, Sakura-chan!'' Naruto apologized quickly, his big blue eyes starting to water as he rubbed the slightly sore spot on his head.

Sakura blinked.

The boy was like a human-sized puppy.

She couldn't _possibly_ stay mad at him for long.

Sigh.

„It's alright, Naruto.'' The pinkette patted the top of his head, much like an owner would pat his loyal, loving dog. His mood cheered up instantly. „Now, do you want to spar with Sasuke, or not?''

„Like hell I don't! C'mon, Sasuke-teme! I don't have all day to kick your ass!'' The blond yelled out cockily—forgetting the smack on the head for his loud voice—and ran off to the middle of the field to get ready for his and Sasuke's fight.

Sasuke sighed almost unnoticeably and walked over to where Sakura was standing, leaned over to her ear and whispered seductivly.

„I hope you can act well.''

And with that the fight started, with a blushing Sakura standing by a tree, watching them intently.


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto realized that there was no way he could stall the four of them by himself, so in the blink of an eye the entire hall filled up with Narutos' shadow clones. Of course, this was not something Kabuto didn't expect.

„Do you really think it will be so easy to defeat us with the same jutsus you used as a Genin, Naruto-kun? Oh wait. That's right. You still _are_ a Genin, aren't you,'' the grey haired man chuckled.

The young boys' teeth clenched tighter as he was just about to burst with rage.

He was never one to stand back and study the situation before attacking his opponent. So his next move was basically... _usual_.

„Don't be so smug, four-eyes. I told you to never underestimate me! You should have learned that by now!'' Naruto barked at Kabuto, who was still smirking like the bastard he was.

„Oh, Naruto-kun. Poor, naive Naruto-kun. Don't you see? The odds are against you. It's four against one. Forgive me for not counting your clones, but... I just don't see them as much of a threat,'' Kabuto took one step forward, getting ready to swiftly knock out Naruto and then rejoin his group with Madara and Kisame.

Their plan was quite simple, actually.

Madara knew that Sasuke would lead his team all the way into the Tower by himself and that he would attemt to kill the Hokage. That's why he and his group of zombies, man-snake and ex-Akatsuki would follow Sasukes' group, going closely behind them. Close enough to infiltrate the village and later the Tower as the same time Sasuke and his team did, but also far enough so that Karin didn't feel their chakras behind her. Then, they would split up in two groups – Kabuto going with Itachi, Deidara and Zetsu on one side and Madara taking Kisame with him and going farther after Sasuke.

Madara also knew that Sasukes' teammates would sense that he was in the village and follow him to the tower, and that when his female team member would go right after him and leave her blond whiskered friend all by himself.

_They are much weaker when they are separated_, Madaras' words were still ringing in Kabutos' head.

That would give Kabuto a chance to get rid of the jinchuuriki easily and meet up with Madara after he was done. Then, as Madara uses a doujutsu on Sasuke that puts his mind into an alternate state where he sees his former friends as his enemy and kills them. That would get rid of his other teammate as well. Meanwhile, Kabuto and the rest of them would hold back the ANBU and ROOT forces that they all knew would show up eventually, while Madara controls Sasukes' mind even further and makes him annihilate Danzo. That way their mission would be completed with Madara not even breaking a sweat.

At least, that was their plan.

Kabutos' hand reached for a weapon, his mind set on slicing the boys' throat quickly and letting him bleed out in pain on the floor.

_I'm sure they'll pick up his carcass eventually._

He grinned maniacally at the thought.

„You see, Naruto-kun... You're all alone now.''

Naruto clenched his hand into a fist, getting ready to attack, as a flash of purple and dark blue appeared in the corner of his eye.

„There's no one to save you now—'' Kabuto didn't even finish his sentence as multiple weapons were thrown his way, hitting his left shoulder, abdomen and right leg. His body started to fall backwards but it didn't even get to hit the ground as his unprotected back was greeted with two lion-shaped shrouds of chakra that sent his body flying across the hall. Out of sheer surprise, all of Narutos' clones vanished.

„Hinata!'' Naruto screamed with glee, his happiness earning him a very visible blush from the said kunoichi.

Hinata stood between Naruto and Zetsu, Itachi and Deidara. Her byakugan sharp in her eyes making her look fierce, but her care towards Naruto still evident.

„Are you okay, Naruto-kun?'' she asked concerned.

„I'm fine, don't wo— Hinata, look out!''

The three shinobi behind her plunged at her at the same time as she and Naruto got ready to counter attack, but their opponents were down on the ground as fast as they jumped.

„Garoga!''

„Nikudan Hari Sensha!''

„Reverse lotus!''

Naruto and Hinata jumped back as Kiba and Akamaru knocked Deidara to the ground, Choji flattened Zetsu into a wall and Lee smashed Itachi into the floor. The rest of the Rookie 12 were right behind them.

„Naruto,'' the said boy looked in the direction of the long haired brunette man.

„Go. Find the rest of your team. We'll handle them.''

Naruto smiled at his friends.

„Alright, Neji. Thank you, guys!''

„Alright alright, just go already! I need some action and you're in my way,'' the impatient Inuzuka barked at him as he got into fighting stance again, eyeing the blond Akatsuki member who was prying himself of the ground again.

_I knew they were gonna put up a tough fight._

„Okay, okay! Geez... You guys catch up when you finish here,'' Naruto waved back at them as he was ready to sprint off into the direction that Sakura went earlier.

„You're not going anywhere!''

The blond boy halted to a stop a few feet in front of the bleeding Kabuto who was on his feet again.

„This was not according to plan!'' the snake-kind man hissed through his teeth. He was about to make hand signs when his body froze completely.

_Wh-what?!_

Shikamaru walked slowly, with basically zero motivation, as always, and sighed as he scratched the back of his head.

„You really don't wanna do that,'' he spoke lazily to the man trapped in his Kagemane.

„As I said, go Naruto. We'll take it from here,'' Neji walked up to them and stood by Shikamarus' side, his Byakugan already activated.

„Thanks,'' Naruto grinned at them one last time before running past Kabuto towards Danzos' office.

Kabuto looked angrily at the two Konoha shinobi in front of him.

„You kids... You don't know who you're dealing with!''

„And neither do you,'' Neji replied calmly as he took one step forward, starting to focus chakra into his hands. He nodded his head towards Shikamaru, a signal to be ready to release his jutsu. The other man smirked in his direction, knowing exactly what was coming to Orochimarus' ex-lackey.

„Now... Let's begin shall we?''

_**All the doors are closing,**_

* * *

Sasuke swung his katana in Danzos' direction and the old man dodged it successfully. The young Uchihas' sharingan swirled, following every move of his enemy. Danzo soon realized that his opponent was more dangerous than he previously thought, and decided upon using his sharingan as he removed the bandages from his right eye.

Sasuke quickly took a stance preforming a series of hand signs, bringing his hand to his mouth.

_Haven't done this in a while..._

„Katon: Gokakyu no Justu!''

A great fireball erupted from his mouth and headed toward Danzo.

_Psh. Foolish child. As if I couldn't counter such a weak jutsu._

„Futon: Vacuum great sphere!''

The wind that Danzo created blew away Sasukes' flames. The old man smirked to himself.

„You shouldn't use such third-grade level jutsus against me, you insolent child!''

Sasuke glared at him once before smirking at him.

_What? What is he thinking?_

The raven haired male pulled his right hand revealing chakra strings attached to ten giant shuriken that were hidden in the flames of his jutsu. He controlled their path with his hand making sure that all of the suriken were coming at Danzo from different sides. The elder man tried dodging, but could only dodge half of the weapons coming at him. Three of the remaining shuriken grazed him, while the other two plunged into his body – one into his right leg and the other in his left shoulder. The wounds on his body bled quickly and he felt foolish for being caught off guard.

„I told you not to think so little of me, old man,'' Danzo looked at the teen that stood on the other side of the yard in front of the Hokage tower.

„Well then...'' he pulled the weapons out of his body and looked menacingly towards Sasuke.

„You shouldn't think little of me either, you spoiled brat!'' Danzo spat with rage, revealing his right arm.

Sasukes' eyes widened, but narrowed quickly as a smug look of victory shone upon his face.

_That's what I was waiting for. Time to get serious._

* * *

Sakura was jumping from building to building, trying to reach the ANBU headquarters as fast as she could. Her mind was racing almost as fast as her legs and she thought of multiple things that could happen that day.

**_I'm trying to move ahead._**

Sasuke could go through with his mission, but get caught in the end by the ANBU and ROOT forces. That would mean he would be put up for trial not only for murdering the current Hokage but also as a rogue ninja that has worked against Konoha for years. They would need a miracle to get him out of a life sentence. But then again, knowing her influence in the village as a prestige kunoichi and also Narutos' Will of Fire and his persistence, not to mention that Kakashi-sensei would surely get involved as well, they would somehow manage to shorten Sasukes' sentence sufficiently. And when he eventually left prison, she, Naruto, Kakashi... heck, even the rest of Rookie 12 would make damn sure that he doesn't leave again.

Then there's the option of Sasuke killing Danzo and still managing to escape before anyone could catch him. That would be the best option for him, but for her? She knew what their deal was. Sakura remembered clearly the words that she spoke to him the night that he left the village, but that was the 12-year-old girl in her talking. Back then, she didn't know anything of real life and just spoke whatever came to her mind in order to make him be with her. But she wouldn't be able to go through with her empty childs' words?

Of course she wouldn't.

Konoha is her _home_.

If she went with Sasuke, the chances of her coming back home were slim to none.

She wasn't able to say goodbye to Konoha. Nor to the people in it.

She would never be able to see her parents again. And she knows they would die of worry if suddenly their only daughter disappeared with a criminal, never to be heard from again.

She wouldn't be able to see her shishou or the help her recover. Tsunade became like a second mother to her over the years she spent training under her wing.

She wouldn't ever see again all of her friends. The Rookie 12 became a family to her. They did everything together. She can't just throw that away.

She would have to part from Kakashi-sensei. Just like Tsunade, he was like her second parent. He taught her so many things when she was still a young little Genin. He treated her like a daughter and he always protected her.

She wouldn't get to argue with Ino every day. The thought of her dearest friend brought tears to her eyes. They fought so much and they even sabotaged each other sometimes, but they always had each others back and Sakura loved her dearly, just like she knew that Ino loved her.

She would have to give all that up, but most importantly...

She would have to say goodbye forever to Naruto.

He was the closest person to her in the entire village. They bonded so much over the years and she saw him as her brother. She treated him as if they were of the same blood. He protected her and she protected him. She knew that if she could count on anyone to _always_ have her back, it was him. Naruto was the most kind-hearted person she will ever meet. She truly did love him with all her heart.

The tears forming in the corners of her eyes finally began to slide down her cheeks. That's when she knew.

_I'm not leaving this place. I can't. This place, these people... mean far too much to me._

_This time, Sasuke... I win._

Her train of thought was interrupted as she felt a strong chakra signature follow closely behind her. She pulled her right hand into a fist and focused chakra into it. She waited until the person tailing her got close enough.

Wait.

Wait...

NOW!

Sakura twirled around on her heel and punch the air out of her opponent.

To say that she was surprised to see who she punched was an understatement.

„Y-you...!''


End file.
